July 4—HK Zamani
Jamie Hamilton's work has been exhibited internationally at venues including the Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Fe and the Lindner Project Space in Berlin. Hamilton grew up in Santa Fe, NM, where he studied classical piano for thirteen years with proteges of Claudio Arrau and Arthur Rubinstein. He holds a BA from Bard college in New York and an MFA from Transart University in Berlin. A climber since the age of eight, Hamilton has explored the Himalayas, Alps, Canadian Rockies but most enjoyed climbing El Capitan. Building wood, concrete and steel structures for Judy Pfaff, working with Tom Joyce and Bruce Nauman, and as a rigger in the entertainment world have solidified a knowledge of material and working processes that informs his artwork. Drawing from a varied background in sport, music and building, Hamilton's interdisciplinary work arises from curiosity about the limits of the body, knowledge and materials. Described by ARTnews as a “free-wheeling modern-day Leonardo,” Hamilton makes an art of pursuing balance in precarious circumstances, evoking both mythic themes and contemporary dilemmas.
Hannah Hughes is an artist based in Los Angeles currently focused on performative work engaged with philosophical questions provoked by contemporary experience. Recently, she has performed for Maiden LA in Los Angeles, Boxo Projects in Joshua Tree, California, the Contemporary Art Center in Santa Fe, Largo das Artes in Rio de Janeiro, and The American Academy in Rome.
She obtained her MA in Philosophy of Media from European Graduate School, Saas-Fee, Switzerland where she studied with director Claire Denis, writer and publisher of Semiotexte Sylvere Lotringer, philosopher Jean Luc Nancy, and curator Hubertus Amelunxen. Her EGS thesis, Theory on Holiday was published by Atropos Press, Dresden in May 2014 titled Together to the Beach. In 2011 she did a residency at Mountain School of the Arts in Los Angeles with Piero Golia, Steve Hanson, Simone Forti , and Richard Jackson. At Hunter College in NYC she studied in the MFA painting program under Robert Morris. She did her undergraduate studies at Columbia University, UC Berkeley and Syracuse in Madrid, receiving her BA in Art History from Mills College.
A recent residency (Nov 2015) at Boxo Projects in Joshua Tree, California revolved around two investigations specific to the ecology and culture of the area - learning to ride off-road motorcycles in Wonder Valley and foster caring for a baby desert tortoise- that culminated in an exhibition and series of performances. Two months (Nov- Dec 2014) as visiting artist at The American Academy in Rome were spent working on performances placed within the tradition of the Roman public sculptures and at Largo das Artes in Rio de Janeiro her five week (July 2015) research focused on improvisation in public space and the melancholic carnivalesque body. During May 2014 she worked in Rio de Janeiro on Cuts, using the activity of haircutting in atypical environments as a lens, with the support of Green My Favela director Lea Rekow.
HK Zamani’s works (1993-2005) consisted of diaphanous fabric stretched over wire armatures that had been attached to either the wall or panels. When lit, the interplay between the lit fabric and its shadow on the wall or panel surface behind produced moiré patterns. These works were visual experiences reminiscent of Op and Psychedelic art. They could also be seen as an extension of the Los Angeles Light and Space art movement with its intellectual questioning of perception.
Zamani’s room works described as liquid architecture led to constructing interactive geodesic domes. Eventually, a dome in its state of disarray after a performance, a dysfunctional architectural form, of ideals and expectations, became the subject matter for his contemplations in drawing and paint. In contrast to his fabric and armature paintings they argued the importance of failure.
His dome and tent paintings were less about paint than image. Their recent transmutations are about paint. These paintings are portraits. Perhaps even self-portraits, fragile portrayals. Some are ruins, some are vessels, and transport. The new images in these paintings continue to grow out of, or away from their predecessors. They are sometimes devils, then angels. Some are on land, in sky or sea, occasional remnants, reformed or transformed. They are a return as well as departure, departure from the dome image and back to the way he used to paint.
He has exhibited his work Internationally since 1988.
PØST (1995 to present) is a subversive space in Los Angeles, a project of HK Zamani, that has hosted nearly 500 exhibits.
