1275 Minnesota St / SFArtsED

Inspired by the 12th-century poem by poet Nizami Ganjavi, Seyed Alavi’s solo exhibition Layla and Majnun reinterprets the ageless tale of love, longing and separation through an immersive display of two juxtaposed textile series which hang suspended in the gallery. Presented against a backdrop of dark blue walls, the installation invites the viewer to consider the physical distance between these two archetypal lovers to be a construct. 

Employing a wide range of artistic tools and mediums ranging from recent advances in sublimation-dye rug printing, collage, digital manipulation and AI-assisted image processing, Seyed approaches this body of work foremost through his exploration of how meaning and perception are created through the construction of language and form.