It’s already February! Boston museums are reopening so we ll have more exhibits to highlight for you. Of course many events remain virtual, which is fine because it means that I won’t have to go outside and face the frigid air or mushy snow. Here’s a mix of events taking place in the next days that might inspire you to create something yourself!
Through Feb. 13
Shabnam Jannesari, an Iranian-born and Massachusetts-based artist, has her first solo exhibition at Gallery 263 in Cambridge. As a child, I never realized I could see art in small galleries I thought that’s what museums were for. But galleries are where you often find the gems. In The Carpet Grew Like A Garden, Jannesari depicts the life she left behind in Iran. The paintings reflect her personal story, intertwined with the stories of Iranian women who have been suppressed. Jannesari s works of art are executed in ink or oil paint, and her very vibrant, saturated and warm hues will capture your attention.
Thursday, Feb. 4
CCAE, Chinese steamed Bao: 6-8:30 p.m. Feb. 4. Cost: $60. For information/to register: http://bit.ly/3iPfa7G. The Cambridge Center for Adult Education is inviting residents to learn how to make the Chinese food item Bao in this online class via Zoom. Instructor Jacqueline Church will walk participants through making the steamed bun recipe from scratch.
Friday, Feb. 5
CCAE, scotch whisky tasting: 7-9 p.m. Feb. 5. Cost: $85. For information/to register: http://bit.ly/2MhejTf. The Cambridge Center for Adult Education is inviting residents to an interactive online class where participants will learn about and taste scotch whisky. This class is led by instructor Brendan O’Toole and will take place online via Zoom, with links being emailed to participants. Registration includes a tasting kit, which can be picked up at CCAE, 56 Brattle St., Cambridge from 3-5 p.m. Feb. 3.
Shabnam Jannesari in front of one of her paintings in the exhibit. Photos courtesy: Shabnam Jannesari/CVPA
Jannesari working on an oil painting titled ‘62 Sidney street.’
‘Blue,’ by Shabnam Jannesari.
‘Hierarchy,’ by Shabnam Jannesari.
‘Green House,’ by Shabnam Jannesari.
For artist Shabnam Jannesari, painting is a way to explore nostalgia and Iranian female identity from her own personal experience.
The UMass Dartmouth art student is fresh from the opening of her first solo exhibition, ‘The Carpet Grew Like a Garden,’ at Gallery 263 in Cambridge last month.
Her large, brightly colored figure paintings depict women Jannesari herself, as well as friends and family in warm, cozy spaces dominated by patterns from carpets and fabric.
The Herald News
CAMBRIDGE Gallery 263 is pleased to announce The Carpet Grew Like a Garden, the first-ever solo exhibition by Shabnam Jannesari, an Iranian-born and Massachusetts-based artist. This show is part of Gallery 263’s Exhibition Proposal Series, a program in which exhibitions are selected by a competitive jurying process. In The Carpet Grew Like a Garden, Jannesari’s large-scale paintings illuminate the life the artist left behind in Iran. Through the lens of personal experiences, Jannesari explores the censorship of Iranian women by an overarching patriarchy and invites a dialog to reconsider assumptions about women whose lives have been circumscribed by Islamic culture.