This reception is part of the public educational programming for Forsaken with a Side of Pickles, Saba Farhoudnia's second solo exhibition at Fou Gallery.
Guided by the artist Saba Farhoudnia and the curator Nina Chkareuli-Mdivani, this event delves into the emotional and psychological dimensions of the artist's work. Farhoudnia’s new paintings examine what endures when cultural landmarks are abandoned or overtaken by nature. On multilayered, sanded gesso canvases, she uses acrylic and alcoholic ink to mark points of no return, balancing weighty themes with humor and a light-hearted undertone. Her work suggests that traces of presence persist even when perspective is uncertain — after all, subtle reminders of life continue to appear across her imagined landscapes. Much like the Zone described by the Strugatsky brothers in The Roadside Picnic, a novel that has influenced Farhoudnia’s thinking about these works, the landscapes possess uncanny qualities and may even help to regenerate the harmony we have long lost.
Civil Art is a nonprofit platform that empowers artists and allies to build sustainable systems of care through creativity and collaboration. Emerging from its debut project At the Table—a landmark exhibition at Rockefeller Center that raised over $200,000 to support Asian American artists and communities—Civil Art has evolved into a growing ecosystem uniting artists, gallerists, writers, and patrons in collective action. The organization fosters professional development through incubator programs for emerging artists, writers, and arts professionals, addressing the lack of clear pathways to stability in the art world. Beyond professional growth, Civil Art creates community platforms that use art as a catalyst for education, dialogue, and social connection. Rooted in the belief that collective effort can achieve what individuals cannot, Civil Art continues to build spaces where creativity drives progress and care becomes a shared practice.