Abbas Akhavan – Study for a Garden, OCTOBER 8–NOVEMBER 20, 2012
Abbas Akhavan Study for a Garden October 8–November 20, 2012
Delfina Foundation, London, UK
Study for a Garden is the first UK solo exhibition by Toronto-based Iranian artist Abbas Akhavan. During a 10-week residency at Delfina Foundation, Akhavan has produced a series of installations in response to the Foundation’s adjacent property at 31 Catherine Place. The exhibition will offer visitors a unique opportunity to preview the un-renovated period building which the Foundation will expand into in Autumn 2013. Study for a Garden also marks the last exhibition at the Foundation before it closes for renovation in January 2013.
Folding the border between the garden and domestic space, Study for a Garden explores the intrusion of nature into a house where familiar spaces have gradually been taken over by foreign elements. The invasion of water and vegetation into various rooms of the house is a continuation of Akhavan’s research into the relationship between foreign and familiar, hospitable and hostile, domestic and wild. From the front door to the upstairs bedroom and back to the basement, the installations comprising invasive plants species and hedges govern the audience’s movements, rendering them at times as guests and at times trespassers. In one instance, visitors encounter an oscillating water sprinkler, keeping them at bay with its sprays of water; in another, the original floral carpet from the house creates the illusion of sprouting with natural ivy. These territorial gardens address the naturalization of barriers, where every garden is a guarded space, an enclosure, a compound. Water, vegetation and gardening tools create discriminatory spaces, keeping some species alive and others dead.
