MCA Chicago announces Chicago Works: Maryam Taghavi مریم تقوی

 

MCA Chicago announces Chicago Works: Maryam Taghavi مریم تقوی

CHICAGO— Now open, the MCA presents Chicago Works: Maryam Taghavi مریم تقوی, the first solo museum exhibition of artist Maryam Taghavi (b. Tehran, Iran; lives in Chicago, Ill.) as part of the museum’s series dedicated to artists who are shaping the contemporary art scene both in Chicago and beyond.

For the past several years, Taghavi’s practice has insisted on the notion that where one stands determines what—and how—one sees. In a new body of work titled Nothing Is, Taghavi carefully utilizes elements of a visual culture that she grew up with, such as Islamic calligraphy, Persian miniature painting, and Persian architecture, to address transcendental themes with irony and irreverence. Across this immersive installation, comprised of paintings, sculptures, a calligraphic commission, and an architectural intervention, she explores language, abstraction, and perception, inviting visitors to imagine a relationship with what is imperceptible.

The exhibition features gallery texts in Persian, Spanish, and English, and is the first MCA exhibition to be fully translated into Persian.

Chicago Works: Maryam Taghavi مریم تقوی is organized by Bana Kattan, Pamela Alper Associate Curator, with Kamala GhaneaBassiri, Visual Arts Intern.

SUPPORT

Lead support is provided by R.H. Defares and Zell Family Foundation.

Major support is provided by DIOR, Susie L. Karkomi and Marvin Leavitt, Robin Loewenberg Tebbe and Mark Tebbe, and Charlotte Cramer Wagner and Herbert S. Wagner III of the Wagner Foundation.

Generous support is provided by the Sandra and Jack Guthman Chicago Works Exhibition Fund.

This exhibition is supported by the MCA’s Women Artists Initiative, a philanthropic commitment to further equity across gender lines and promote the work and ideas of women artists.

Maryam Taghavi (b. Tehran, Iran; based in Chicago, Ill.) is an artist and educator. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University and Master of Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), where she was the recipient of The New Artist Society Scholarship. Her art engages with a range of disciplines such as painting, drawing, sculpture, performance, publication, and installation. She has exhibited nationally and internationally at institutions such as LAXART, Queens Museum, Ex Teresa Museum, Chicago Cultural Center, and Driehaus Museum, among others. In 2023 her sculpture work was commissioned by the City of Chicago to be permanently installed at O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal 5.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The MCA interweaves exhibitions, performances, collections, and educational programs while providing a place for audiences to contemplate and discuss contemporary art in pursuit of a creative and diverse future. The MCA believes in the values of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) as a platform to enact structural change. The museum is generously supported by its Board of Trustees; individual and corporate members; private and corporate foundations, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and government agencies. Museum capital improvements are supported by a Public Museum Capital Grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The MCA is a proud member of Museums in the Park and receives major support from the Chicago Park District.

The MCA is located at 220 E. Chicago Avenue and is open 10 am to 5 pm Wednesday to Sunday and Tuesdays (free for IL residents) from 10 am to 9 pm. The museum is closed on Mondays. Admission is free for all youth 18 and under, members of the military and veterans, and MCA members. Find more information about MCA's exhibitions, programs, and special events at mcachicago.org or at 312.280.2660.

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