In conjunction with Be Not Still: Living in Uncertain Times, join us for an evening with exhibition and di Rosa collection artist Ala Ebtekar.
The artist will join Curator Amy Owen in conversation to discuss how his work is shaped by his relationship to multiple cultures, including the inspiration for Luminous Ground (2018), Ebtekar’s new site-specific installation at di Rosa and the culmination of a yearlong project focused on the cosmos. Taking the topic of citizenship as its locus, the work features a GOODS/ERS2 field image from the Hubble Space Telescope—the first ultra-deep wide field image of the universe depicting twelve billion years of cosmic history—transferred onto an arrangement of one-thousand handmade ceramic tiles. With no visible distinctions between stars, planets, space, or time, the work explores what it means to be a territory without borders.
Following the talk, guests are invited to experience a landscape of sound with Ebtekar and Iranian composer and pianist Nima Hafezieh. Hafezieh will present an original composition inspired by Ebtekar’s work on view.
$10 General / $5 Members
Advance tickets recommended
Please plan to arrive at least 15 minutes in advance to allot for shuttle service from admissions to Gallery 2.
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About the Artists
Ala Ebtekar is a Bay Area-based artist who was born in Berkeley to Iranian parents. His practice encompasses installation, painting, text, time-based media, public events, and long-term pedagogical initiatives. He currently teaches at Stanford University in the Department of Art & Art History and Institute for Diversity in the Arts. Ebtekar is the founder and director of “Art, Social Space, and Public Discourse,” a three-year Stanford global initiative on art that investigates the multiple contexts that shift and define changing ideas of public space.
Nima Hafezieh is an Iranian composer and pianist specializing in piano improvisation in classical and contemporary music. He has also worked as a music instructor, music transcriber and editor, and a music education advisor in support of blind musicians and students, including work with the Association of Blind Students and Graduates in Iran.