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Grand, scowling war goddesses in lip gloss: Ala Ebtekar’s combinations of ancient Persian art and Californian pop culture are serious and wish to speak with you. At “Re-Emergence,” the painter builds on a history of ultramodern warships invading Sumerian-looking cloudscapes, disturbing the Middle Eastern griffins and dragons who hang out there. Here, he pictures women, modern-tough and mythical-omnipotent, in ornate helmetry. Painting into digital photographs of beautiful young women, Ebtekar uses a technique called qahveh khanehei to layer totem animal crowns of heavy metal over delicate, tissue-thin veils. Sometimes the headdresses are steel, but sometimes they’re rendered in airy black lines on empty space; they look like paper. The artist’s signature is the use of old Farsi book pages as background, and “Re-Emergence” features two new large-scale paintings in that style. An opening reception for “Re-Emergence” starts at 5:30 p.m. June 17.
June 17-July 10, 2010