Studio Gallery is open to the public Wednesdays, Thursdays, & Fridays from 1pm to 6pm and on Saturdays from 11am to 6pm. Masks are recommended but optional. To schedule a guided visit, please contact director@studiogallerydc.com or call (202) 232-8734.

Entwined

Sabiha Iqbal

Curated by Mira Hecht

February 26th - March 22nd, 2025

 The inspiration for my work comes from the world around me, the newspapers, books, poetry I read, images I see. I grew up in an artistically inclined household; my mother Ada Jafarey was a celebrated and much loved poet of Pakistan, whose themes focused on the fusion of feminism with the political world. Poetry was not my genre; I turned to economics and spent a lifetime learning and teaching the principles of economics. It formed the foundation of my thoughts and later influenced my artistic practice. I took art classes at the Corcoran and gradually became fully immersed in art. My work is based on the underlying idea that human beings are connected to each other and to the environment around them. Our actions affect our planet and nature responds in ways that have consequences for our wellbeing.

On the canvas, imaginary figures expressing joy and sorrow, hope and fear move in a surreal space. Floral abstractions suggesting movement in water or in the air are another facet of the imagined environment. The emphasis is on gestures, movement and energy. Works on paper and board shift the focus to our real world. The collages made from newspaper clippings and headlines tell the human stories of migration, wars and natural disasters in all parts of the world. Humans suffer and struggle but always look for light. My compositions and choice of palette reflect a mood of hopefulness for a brighter future, a feeling all humans share. Titles for my works mostly come from my mother’s poems.

In the Lower Gallery

LOST and FOUND

Premier Associates Exhibit

Curated by Veronica Szalus

February 26th - March 22nd, 2025

Ever since Picasso made the sculpture “Bulls Head” out of the seat and handlebars of a bicycle, Duchamp presented a urinal as the sculpture “Fountain” and Rauschenberg reinvented collage with his early “Combine paintings”, artists have been using found objects in their art. 

To quote Charles Simic, “Found objects, chance creations, ready-mades (mass-produced items promoted into art objects, such as Duchamp's "Fountain"-urinal as sculpture) abolish the separation between art and life. The commonplace is miraculous if rightly seen."

 The artists in LOST and FOUND present their explorations of the transformation of salvaged, found and repurposed objects.