Nazafarin Lotfi
Real, Possible, or Imaginary
August 24th - October 26th, 2024
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 24th 7-9pm

Everybody is pleased to present Real, Possible, or Imaginary, Nazafarin Lotfi’s first solo exhibition with the gallery and her third time working with Everybody. Real, Possible, or Imaginary marks periods of transition for Lotfi—both in methods of working and places lived. Exhibited here for the first time, the paintings from 2018-20 are when Lotfi first began adding relief and three-dimensionality to her traditionally flat surfaces. While still paintings hung on a wall, these surfaces shift and reveal new contours as the viewer passes each piece. At the moment of writing this, Lotfi is also marking an end to her time in Tucson, AZ and will be relocating back to Chicago, IL shortly after Real, Possible, or Imaginary opens. 

Despite the fact that they are abstract, Lotfi’s paper mache sculptures often recall bodies. This bodily nature can be found in their scale, their wrapped shapes, and their pseudo-representational qualities. Viewed in Tucson, they might also bring to mind the ever-present debris found in streets, yards, and washes across the city. These sculptures, much like Lotfi’s entire project, are inherently political without concerning themselves with the politics of the day. Politics here can be found in the tension between abstraction and representation, shifting perspectives and layers in the works, or that Lotfi lives and works in the United States—far away from her home and family in Iran. Real, Possible, or Imaginary is paradoxically a testing ground and affirmative statement for Lotfi’s work, and for herself, a homecoming and going away party.