SEPTEMBER 12 – NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Opening Reception with the Artist
Tuesday, September 12th, 5:30-7:30PM

SOCO Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of She Rose, a solo exhibition of new works by artist Farshad Farzankia. The gallery will host a public opening on September 12, 2023 from 5:30 - 7:30 PM. This will be Farzankia’s first exhibition with SOCO Gallery and first presentation of work in the Southeastern United States. 

Featuring works on canvas, paper, and wood panels, She Rose will highlight Farzankia’s simple yet curiously complex compositions. Influenced by his Iranian heritage and Danish upbringing, the artist explores visual elements across many different cultures, mass media meets ancient times. Faces, animals, objects of his daily life and memories combine with vibrant colors, textures and symbols to  create new interpretations  of the world. 

Beginning with quick sketches, Farzankia’s imagery slowly evolves much like stories in single frames, where separate paintings often flow together creating a story like a chapter book. New York Times Style Magazine (2018) describes his paintings as “Simple, figurative compositions of androgynous bodies, birds, plant life and obscure symbols, rendered in bright pop palettes. Specific characters and constellations…often reappear, as do themes such as otherness, multiple identities and cross-cultural exchange.”

In She Rose, Farzankia’s paintings follow his continual line of inspiration, drawing deeper into floral imagery and abstracted forms of the human face. Akin to the exhibition title, the word “rose” is used both literally and metaphorically in several of the pieces. In woman…life…freedom, a female figure is layered with stark lines and abstracted symbols surrounded by loosely painted roses as she rises with her hands lifted. Another work on paper reveals a ghost of a face, a linear drawing layered over a bird silhouette with strong yellow marks radiating from its head. 

The title of the exhibition comes from Emily Dickinson’s poem, She Rose to his Requirement. Long inspired by the author’s tenacity and rebel spirit, the theme of the poem parallels with Farzankia’s support of the Women Life Freedom Movement, the community of Iranian members  dedicated to providing health aid and promoting human rights to the people of Iran, especially the women. The  title for the exhibition, She Rose, is a nod to larger global themes of equality, empowerment, and  freedom, Farzankia’s instinctual and emotional response to the world. 

Farshad Farzankia (B. 1980)

Farshad Farzankia is a Copenhagen City-based artist featured in group and solo exhibitions nationally and internationally. Select exhibitions include SOCO Gallery, Charlotte, NC; Foundry Gallery, Seoul; Arken Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj; 68projects, Berlin; Turn Gallery, New York; Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica; Galerie Kornfeld, Berlin; Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica; Andersen’s, Copenhagen. 

Farzankia received his Bachelor of visual communication at the School of Visual Communication, Haderslev, Denmark, in 2006. Farzankia has been commissioned to do two public works in Denmark: the 2023 Copenhagen Jazz Festival poster and a collage wall for the Roskilde Music Festival. He currently has work in four collections internationally; the Arken Museum for Moderne Kunst, Ishoj, Denmark; the Royal Family Collection of Dubai, UAE; the National YoungArts Foundation, Miami, FL, USA; and the Yusaku Maezawa Private Collection, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.