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In this dazzling solo exhibition Iranian artist (and nonagenarian) Monir Farmanfarmaian presents The First Family, eleven mirrored sculptures based on the sequential divisions of a circle. Balancing geometric precision with handmade methods, the works are both regal and mesmerizing. Coinciding with a major exhibition at the Asia Society in New York, The First Family is a special treat for San Francisco, and not to be missed.
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The final element, Octagon Sculpture, sits just inside the gallery’s front doors, occupying a recessed space of its own. This piece, more than any other in the exhibition, conjures notions of reverence, fully demonstrating the aspects of Farmanfarmaian’s practice that tie her work to Islamic architecture, worship through repetition and ideas of sacred geometry. Octagon Sculpture, like all the works in The First Family, takes up space. It reflects light on the three walls that surround it, its thick mirror-covered framework anything but delicate. The wall pieces bulge outwards towards the viewer, asserting their significance and the decades of assured art making behind their forms.