Maryam Motallebzadeh

Maryam Motallebzadeh comes from Iran, where she won an art prize at the age of 13. She studied, went to Ramsar on a travel grant and ran her own gallery in Tehran for around 20 years. Between 1995 and 1997 she took part in the Painting Biennale of the Museum of Contemporary Art. Many of her works were exhibited in various European countries before she went to Germany in 1999. Here she studied at the University of the Arts in Bremen. In 2007 she completed her studies with a diploma. This was followed by exhibitions in galleries and museums in Austria, France, Bangkok, Switzerland, Spain, Norway, Canada, China,...

The artist has been living and working in Berlin since 2017.

Whether painting, ink drawing on paper, installation or film - Maryam Motallebzadeh's artworks can be understood as a kind of contemporary witness - created in the awareness of certain periods of life and the influence of certain social and political circumstances that influence the experience and thinking of the artist. This is another reason why travel and encounters with other cultures have always been an important source of inspiration for her artistic themes.

Wandering between the Orient and the Occident, the artist has dealt intensively with themes such as homeland, identity, language and the relationship between self and nature.

The works from the series "Carried by the Wind" are all about the theme of fate and bring together works that are formally characterized by a special lightness and dynamism. But here, too, one quickly comes across tense passages, be it where passionately atomizing red attacks soft white surfaces, be it where the motif of the veil opens up a complex field of meaning of concealment and disclosure, strangeness and intimacy, rejection and seduction.

For example, the last works were created during the Corona pandemic and emphasize the current explosiveness of questions about transience, uncertainty and, last but not least: love. Text by Maria Wirth 2021

The art-historical origin of the works of Maryam Motallebzadeh is partly monochrome painting, informal, tachisme. The recurring moment is the writing, with which she moves the mystery of the difference between here and there in an equally enchanting and enchanting manner - never solved and yet solving. Maryam Motallebzadeh enriches the art scene of our time. In a conversation, she expressed her closeness to nature and saw her work as an artist as a form of vocation, far removed from sporadic artistic inspirations and occupations. This view may illuminate the concept of art and its alliance with a life's work in a very clear way. Text by Prof. Reiner Matzker 2017

The current exhibition in the ARTCADIA GALLERY addresses the events in Iran, in particular the courageous struggle of women for freedom, self-determination and equality. The artist's new works are also courageous and profound. While oriental characters and the symbolic image of the veil have always created an identity for the artist's pictures, the new works point to the interface between mythology and philosophy. As Heraclitus wrote, the two poles of life, the female and the male principle, are in an eternal struggle with each other. They flow together, fertilize each other, are the source of life and impermanence. The conflict between the sexes may have a natural origin, but the same conditions should be given and be based on the free development and determination of the will of every human being. In the exhibition, Maryam Motallebzadeh also presents pictures from the early phase of her artistic activity in Iran. These works also address human dignity and the right to freedom. Maryam Motallebzadeh transforms her messages into her images. In the conversation she emphasizes that without love, without recognizing one's own personality, there could be neither growth nor peace in the world. Text by R Barthel 2023

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