Mojé Assefjah

Gallery Joeun is pleased to present “Tales from the Waves,” a personal exhibition by Mojé Assefjah (b. 1970, Tehran) from November 9 through December 9, 2023. Assefjah’s colorful, almost tactile paintings, with their bold and delicate brushstrokes, depict the theme of the infinite wave, portraying a sensual yet psychic landscape, as if in a dream.

Exhibition Poster

Recently, the artist, who spent some time in Sardinia on the coast of the Italian Mediterranean island, experienced the beauty of the deep sea, which she had not seen for a long time because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The artist recognized the sea from her youth, associated with “the “sound of water”. The sound of water and the rhythm of the sea led the young artist to a meditative state and to the edge of infinity. The sea is full of incredibly rich colors and unpredictable movements. The waves are seemingly the same, yet always different. Together with the wind, the sun, and the light, the waves form bundles of energy and then return to infinite calm before bringing forth a new form.

모제 아세프자 Moje Assefjah, Astgefluster, 2023, eggtempera on wood, 75cm

In Assefjah’s work, a beautiful curve unfolds rhythmically through vertical and horizontal geometric spaces. The winding movement, reminiscent of a sea of waves, creates a rhythm in space and immerses the viewer in the world of infinity. Prof. Dr. Anne-Marie Bonnet compares Assefjah’s works to the “dialogue of the seas and oceans with the moon”. In her opinion, Assefjah’s work reminds us of the fragility and preciousness of nature in the Anthropocene (the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment –source; Oxford Languages).” Assefjah’s colorful, semi-abstract paintings evoke the splendor of magnificent flowers, lush meadows, forests, and rushing waters, with fathomless shoals and vast horizons looming alongside luxuriant arched and curved ornaments.

모제 아세프자 Moje Assefjah, At The River, 2023, egg tempera on linen, 140 x 180 cm

The calligraphic dimensions of the works can be linked to Assefjah’s Persian roots and her familiarity with East Asian art. This artistic language has also emerged from her detailed studies and visual experiences with sumptuous robes (long, loose piece of clothing) in Western painting, so much so that Anne-Marie Bonnet comments that her painting could practically be read as a new transcultural painting-based lingua franca (a global means of inter-community communication – source; Wikipedia).

모제 아세프자 Moje Assefjah, El Patio, 2023, egg tempera on canvas, 120 x 100 cm

The egg tempera technique (mixture of egg, pigment, water, and linseed oil), resulting from her intensive study of Western art history, gives her works a temperature and tactility. The surface created with egg tempera has an organic texture that is never fixed. Assefjah’s paintings are material and immaterial, sensual and tactile, allowing the viewer to experience the subtle nuances of invisibility and transparency.

Born in Iran and immigrating to Germany as a child, preserving the cultural heritage of the East and the West, she studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and has since been actively exhibiting in Europe and Asia, including exhibitions in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. Her works are attracting the attention of the international art scene as some of her recent works have been exhibited and collected at the Lenbachhaus Museum in Munich, housing the world’s largest collection of the Blue Rider, in 2022. In her second solo exhibition at Gallery Joeun, the artist will present her own original artistic language, combining the abstract and figurative, past and present, and Eastern and Western elements in 28 recent works, conveying a poetic yet concrete sensual and tactile beauty.

Gallery Joeun
3, Itaewon-ro 55 ga-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
+82-2-790-5889

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