Abbas Akhavan: cast for a folly
Artist Abbas Akhavan came to San Francisco as the 2018-2019 Capp Street Project Artist-in-Residence which culminated in the exhibition cast for a folly at CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts. Akhavan transformed the large, front gallery with an installation that replicated a photograph of the National Museum in Baghdad’s ransacked lobby after the museum was looted during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.
Custom furniture, handmade sculptures, and quotidian objects from folding chairs to dust laced together questions of memory, permanence, and vulnerability. Hiccups in faithful replication, such as missing furniture panels and strategically placed mirrors, make space for the individual to be implicated in the looting or war or both. cast for a folly filled the space with evidence of loss.
Abbas Akhavan: cast for a folly (May 9–July 27, 2019) was curated by Kim Nguyen and organized by Leila Grothe. This exhibition ran parallel to filmmaker Akosua Adoma Owusu’s solo exhibition Welcome to the Jungle.
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Citations and Links:
Editors. “Abbas Akhavan: Cast for a Folly & Akosua Adoma Owusu: Welcome to the Jungle.” Contemporary And, contemporaryand.com, March 14, 2019.
Hotchkiss, Sarah. “At the Wattis, the Aftermath of an Invasion and a Kaleidoscope of Black Experience.” KQED, kqed.org, June 4, 2019.
Klett, Maddie. “Abbas Akhavan: Cast for a Folly.” Brooklyn Rail, brooklynrail.org, July 9, 2019.
McFadden, Kegan. “Reviews: Abbas Akhavan.” Canadian Art, canadianart.ca, July 23, 2019.
Cuguoğlu, Naz. “Theater of False Ruins: Interview with Abbas Akhavan.” ArtAsiaPacific, artasiapacific.com, June 26, 2019.
Chalabi , Deena. “Monuments, Placeholders, Ghosts.” Open Space, openspace.sfmoma.org, May 23, 2019.
Selcer, Anne Lesley. “Night Falls Slowly inside a Photograph.” Open Space, openspace.sfmoma.org, October 9, 2019.