55:56
A multimedia installation by Baharak & Behnaz Khaleghi

4 October – 16 November 2019

“For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.” (I Corinthians 11:8-9)

“In them [gardens] are women limiting [their] glances, untouched before them by man or jinni.”(Ayah 56, Sura Ar-Rahman)

Houris are described as incarnations of perfection; beautiful women who are gifted to men in heaven. Harmful ideologies of a “perfect woman are written into texts across cultures, creating paradoxes in which women are scrutinized for inevitably falling short of these standards. Through satire, Baharak and Behnaz Khaleghi begin to subvert our expectations of this ideology by asking questions about women’s relation to patriarchal structures.

Aggregate Space Gallery presents 55:56, a multimedia installation, exploring an alternate and private space for houris, where they are able to embrace and indulge in both humanly and heavenly desires, free from the expectations of others. This exhibition is curated by Laine Corfield and Sophia Feuer as the culminating project of Aggregate Space Gallery’s annual intensive Curatorial Fellowship.

Opening Reception
4 October 2019 6-10pm

Second Saturday Artist Talk
12 October 11am

First Friday Event
1 November 5-8pm

Gallery Hours
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 1-5pm and by appointment  

Aggregate Space Gallery

Aggregate Spaceship at
Warehouse 416-Unit E
416 26th St.
Oakland, CA 94612

aggregatespacegallery.org
facebook.com/aggregatespace
info@aggregatespacegallery.org

Aggregate Space Gallery programs are generously supported by: National Endowment for the Arts, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Neda Nobari Foundation, Creative Work Fund, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, and Zellerbach Family Foundation.

*Image courtesy of Zahra Mohamadi