Pouran Jinchi is an Iranian-born, New York artist who borrows from her home culture's traditions of literature and calligraphy to pursue her own aesthetic investigations. Texts are morphed beyond recognition into flowing, anthropomorphic shapes. On vibrantly hued grounds individual brush strokes appear or meld into delineations and structures that derive from a particular mating of the world of letters and the aesthetics of form. In her approach to painting, Jinchi combines traditional, formal training with influences from recent practices in contemporary painting.
Early works are both abstract and literal presentations of poems. The canvas becomes a palimpsest; the artist writes and scores her marks on top of each other, so that the ground is made energetic with dense layers of calligraphic strokes, diacritical marks, and sometimes, entire words. In this way, Jinchi offers her viewers a poem that has been turned into a physical object, one that owes its origins, if not the specifics of its execution, to a work of literature.
As Jinchi’s numerous works referencing nature suggest, she envisions her art as being meditative and holistic in nature. Having been trained in calligraphy, she finds the relation between words and forms, natural or non-objective, deeply intertwined. Recent works may present a single letter or reference Iranian architectural tile design or the meeting of Islamic tradition and the international, fashion marketplace. Here color, form, mark-making and even lyricism can be their own subjects. Ultimately, Jinchi succeeds in at once mining the achievements of her Persian heritage and working through broader discussions of contemporary aesthetics.
For the full Artist Biography, download the PDF below.
POURAN JINCHI
- Born in Mashad, Iran
Lives and works in New York City
EDUCATION
Studio Painting, The Art Students League of New York, New York, NY
Sculpture and Painting, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering, George Washington University, Washington, DC
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Pouran Jinchi, The Vilcek Foundation, New York, NY
Pouran Jinchi: A Survey, Art Projects International, New York, NY
Pouran Jinchi: Fabricated, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE
Recitation, M.Y. Art Prospects, New York, NY
Alef, M.Y. Art Prospects, New York, NY
Derakht, 511 Gallery, New York, NY
Entangled Thoughts, Macy Gallery, Columbia University, New York, NY
Antworks, M.Y. Art Prospects, New York, NY
Shibata Etsuko Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Ruba’iyat Series, M.Y. Art Prospects, New York, NY
Pouran Jinchi: Recent Paintings, Art Projects International, New York, NY
Nikolai Fine Arts, New York, NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Contemporary Calligraphics: Three Artists Image the Word, Binghamton University Art Museum, Binghamton, NY
Cultural Village, Flashback/Forward, Dubai Properties, Dubai, UAE
Routes of Influence: International Artists from Asia, Art Projects International, New York, NY
Poetry of the Winds, 2002 Flag Art Festival. (2002 FIFA World Cup, Seoul/Japan)
The Rose and the Nightingale, Macy Gallery, Columbia University, New York, NY
Visions of the Millennium, Greenwich Arts Center, Greenwich, CT
United Nations Millennium Day, Benefit Exhibition, The United Nations, New York, NY
The Cambodia Trust, Benefit Exhibition, The New York Academy of Science, New York, NY
The Learning Project, Benefit Exhibition, The Craft Museum, New York, NY
Artists for Gardens, Benefit Exhibition, The Puck Building, New York, NY
Two Person Show, Gallery Stendhal, New York, NY
Two Person Show, Gallerie Ott, Dusseldorf, Germany
Annual Contemporary Art Exhibition, curated by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York, NY
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
- Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, DC
- Federal Reserve Bank, New York, NY
- Sprint Corporation, Kansas City, MO
- Lehman Brothers, New York, NY
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Baysa, Kóan Jeff. “Lost in Transliteration,” Ctrl+P Journal of Contemporary Art, reproduction, issue 10, March 2008.
- “Countries: United Arab Emirates”, Art Asia Pacific Almanac 2008, reproduction, vol. 3, 2008.
- “Art & Culture”, Time Out Dubai, reproductions, January 17 - 24, 2008.
- Wilson-Goldie, Kaelen. “Desert Oasis - or Mirage?” Art + Auction, reproduction, October 2007.
- “Under the hammer,” CNN Traveller, Inside the Middle East, reproduction, March 2007.
- Ekhtiar, Maryam. “Practice Makes Perfect: The Art Of Calligraphy Exercises (Siyah Mashq) In Iran,” Eastern Art Report, 2006.
- Goodman, Jonathan. “Pouran Jinchi at M. Y. Prospects,” Art in America, October 2002.
- Kennedy, Kendal. “Form Following Function: Pouran Jinchi’s Antworks,” 2001 (unpublished manuscript).
- Goodman, Jonathan. “Pouran Jinchi,” Art Asia Pacific, review, reproductions, issue 32, 2001.
- Cotter, Holland. “More Abstraction,” The New York Times, Fine Arts & Leisure, January 21, 2000.
- Zimmer, William. “What 72 Artists Figured Out About Boxes Measuring 1 by 1 by 1,” The New York Times (Connecticut Edition), January 2, 2000.
- “Short List,” The New Yorker, December 27, 1999.