Laleh Motlagh: Rooted. Uprooted. Chicago Exhibition Week Reception
@ SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art
1527 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL 60622
Opening Thursday, September 17th, from 5PM - 8PM
On view through Saturday, November 7th
Join us for our Chicago Exhibition Week Reception for Rooted. Uprooted., Iranian-Azerbaijani American artist Laleh Motlagh, new body of work exploring multicultural identity, resilience, and personal geography. Moving between the memories of her hometown of Tabriz, Iran, and her current life in Chicago, Motlagh navigates the complex realities of geopolitical displacement and belonging. Her recent work acts as a profound meditation on the enduring traumas of conflict, specifically reflecting on the devastation of the recent war, while remaining deeply present to her immediate surroundings.
The studies of her houseplants that have been a key part of her practice are now interwoven in subtle ways so even as she is thinking about the war in Iran, her work still embodies the beauty and peace of plants and interior places. Motlagh’s work is powerfully relevant to these times and reflects how many of us feel, rooted and uprooted, having to hold many realities at the same time.
Expanding upon the themes of transformation and quietude established in her 2024 exhibition, Entanglement, Motlagh introduces new paintings and a series of new monoprints from the collection of her dried plant materials. These tactile works serve as visual archives of preservation, investigating the lingering lifeforces of botany and their capacity to find beauty within interior landscapes. By interweaving domestic peace with distant geopolitical unrest, Rooted. Uprooted. invites viewers to hold multiple and conflicting truths simultaneously, capturing the collective precarity of existence and the enduring pursuit of consolation.
Laleh Motlagh لاله مطلق (b. Tabriz, Iran) is a Chicago-based artist and educator. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions around the world. She has received multiple awards and recognitions. Motlagh received her MFA from the University of Illinois Chicago and teaches at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. Laleh Motlagh was one of NewCity’s Breakout Artists of 2023.
Opening Reception:
Saturday, September 12, 5 – 8 pm.
Chicago Exhibition Week reception:
Thursday, September 17, 5 – 8 pm
Artist talk:
Saturday, September 19, 12:15 -1:30 pm
SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art
1527 N. Ashland Avenue, Chicago, IL
Official Website
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Tags: Chicago, Chicago Exhibition Week Reception, Laleh Motlagh, Rooted. Uprooted., SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art
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