Laleh Motlagh: Entanglement

May 31 - July 20, 2024

SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art Gallery features new works by Laleh Motlagh 

SoNa Chicago is proud to feature new work by artist Laleh Motlagh in a solo exhibition from May 31 - July 20, 2024. 

As an Iranian Azerbaijanis-American woman, Laleh Motlagh delves into profound explorations of love, intimacy, spirituality, trust, and resilience while remaining present to her own localities. Based in Chicago, Motlagh challenges socio-cultural alienation and navigates the complexities of multicultural identity. Often collaborative with other-than-human, she employs drawing, painting, sculpture, performance, video, and installation to question the boundaries between human and natural life, the admissible and the taboo, as well as the geopolitical overtones found so prevalently in the discourse of border zones and notions of belonging.

Her new exhibition, Entanglement, explores issues related to transformation of personal memories, contemplation on entanglement, love, care and intimacy, containment & consolation, and seeing the unseen. The exhibit includes drawings, paintings, video, and mixed media sculptures. The work is a continuation of her study of the remains of her houseplants and of those in the garden outside. In an interview with writer Mána Taylor in NewCity Art, Motlagh says  “They are still changing.” The dried remains are featured in this exhibition at SoNa Chicago, including a series called “Cycles and Voids,” where different hues of dried material are shown in their varied and subtle shades. Laleh Motlagh was one of NewCity’s Breakout Artists of 2023.

The new works in Entanglement extend on the themes of Contemplation, which was at the Chicago Artist Coalition last year. Laleh Motlagh’s work has a simple elegance and quietness. It conveys the transitory nature of life and its beauty in all its phases. We try to hold it, but it has transformed into something else that is also deeply meaningful. 

Laleh Motlagh is a Chicago-based artist and educator. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions around the world. She has received multiple awards and recognitions. Motlagh received her MFA from the University of Illinois Chicago and teaches at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. 

The Opening Reception for the show Entanglement is Friday, May 31 from 6-9 pm. 

An artist talk is scheduled for Saturday, June 22 from 1-2 pm. The exhibition runs through July 20, 2024.

SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art is located at 1527 N. Ashland Avenue in the Wicker Park Bucktown neighborhood.