Trauma is sometimes the best teacher. For Frida Kahlo, her near-death bus accident and lifelong quarrels with partner Diego Rivera consistently informed themes of physical suffering and psychological pain she’d imbue within her self-portraits, such as in The Broken Column (1944). For Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui, who recently unveiled a towering bottle cap assemblage at the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, he continues to utilize discarded materials to symbolically probe into post-colonial legacies and the traumas inflicted by past empires.
There is an invisible barrier within the mind that separates pain and creativity, a metaphysical state that serves as the theme for a new group exhibition at Compound in Long Beach. Curated by artist Tofer Chin and his partner, mindfulness writer and educator Mari Orkenyi, When the Veil Thins brings together film, painting, sculpture and installation from a diverse cast of artists including Amir H. Fallah, Analia Saban, Aryana Minai, Jamal Gunn Becker, Mia Weiner, Mike Nesbit, Molly Haynes, Shaniqwa Jarvis, Thomas Linder and Todd Tourso.
Central to the exhibition lies the question: “What are we made of?” Chin departs from his usual minimalist compositions to present THERE IS ANOTHER WORLD, AND IT IS IN THIS ONE, a free-standing installation made of four charred cedar wood fences enclsing a pile of barren dirt in the middle — metaphorically calling to question Los Angeles’s urban expansion, while subverting the constructs of domesticity and security. Iranian-born, LA-based artist Amir H. Fallah creates kaleidoscopic paintings that conflate Persian and Western iconography, from his love of basketball culture with the oppression Iranian women have faced since the 1979 revolution, in a style akin to Persian miniature paintings.
Todd Tourso’s film installation Paradise reflects on the death, rebirth and resilience of Mexico’s indigenous populations from foreign intervention. While outside in Compound’s courtyard, Iranian artist Roksana Pirouzmand’s sculpture Until All Is Dissolved, distills the human body to landscapes, ebbing and flowing throughout the seasons in a state of impermanence. “The concept of the veil thinning is rooted in various cultural and religious beliefs, describing a time or place where the boundary between the physical world and the spiritual realm becomes less distinct,” Chin and Orkenyi said in a statement. “We are curious about what happens when the veil thins to the point of invisibility, and how art allows us to access and move through this liminal space beyond our reach.”
LA-based studio Forth + Back designed the exhibition space, as well as the forthcoming catalog on the show. For those in SoCal area, When the Veil Thins will be on view in Long Beach until January 12, 2025.
Compound
1395 Coronado Ave,
Long Beach, CA 90804
