NEW YORK, NY.- Anita Rogers Gallery will open Hidden longing, a solo exhibition of new works by Iranian artist Shirin Mirjamali. The exhibition will be on view October 15 through November 26 at 494 Greenwich Street, Ground Floor in New York City. There will be a reception on Wednesday, October 15, 6-8pm celebrating the artist’s debut solo exhibition with the gallery.

These works are neither characters nor narratives — they are traces of emotion.
A feminine world, at times overwhelmed by joy, at times by sorrow, striving simply to remain.
A reciprocal act between myself and the viewer.
The curtain is not meant to conceal, nor to protect — it is a safe distance for confrontation.
It is part of the work itself, alive, with memory.
It holds space for hesitation — a moment before seeing, where something is still possible.
A threshold between seeing and not-seeing, where lifting it transforms observation into participation.
And when we finally manage to see — what is it exactly that we’re looking for?
What remains hidden, even after it has been seen?

-Shirin Mirjamali

Hidden longing features a series of small-scale, intimate drawings, alongside major 59” x 59” works on paper. Each of these large drawings hangs veiled behind a thin curtain waiting to be pulled back, an invitation to be present, curious, and to physically participate in the act of seeing. A handmade artist book will also be on view, offering unique insight into Mirjamali’s inner world and creative process.

Throughout the show, Mirjamali invites the viewers to enter into a dialogue and to engage with the work, with their minds and bodies. Her artistic process is intuitive; she does not know where each piece will end when she begins. She instead follows her thoughts and emotions, letting the colors and materials guide her, until she reaches a resolution. The resulting works hold a delicate balance of contradictions. They are intimate and grotesque, visceral and elegant. Humorous and haunting, violent and cerebral, raw yet shielded by the cloak of aesthetics. Mirjamali explores the tension between our inner and outer worlds, our bodies and our minds, the unburdened joy and the deep sorrow of womanhood, our spoken words and our hidden desires.

Shirin Mirjamali (b. 1983, Iran) lives and works in Tehran, Iran. She received her MFA in painting from Soore University in Tehran-Iran. She is a member of the Iranian painters Association. This marks her debut solo exhibition with the gallery.