Compound Art for All | Balancing Act with Amir H. Fallah

Balancing Act: Alternative Portraits workshop led by Amir H. Fallah

This workshop will focus on creating alternative portraits through the fusion of structured design and the spontaneity of Rorschach techniques. Participants will begin by crafting grid-based, hard-edged watercolor paintings on paper, using rulers to achieve precise, linear patterns. Once the watercolor has dried, the paper will be folded in half to create a Rorschach print, layering the calculated design with an element of chance.

This process symbolizes the interplay between order and chaos, mirroring life’s delicate balance between planned decisions and unpredictable events. The resulting artwork will serve as a metaphor for how we navigate the coexistence of structure and spontaneity in our daily lives.

Art supplies are provided. No previous art-making experience necessary.

About Amir H. Fallah

Amir H. Fallah (b. 1979, Tehran, Iran; Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA) received his BFA in Fine Art & Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art and his MFA in painting at the University of California, Los Angeles. He
has exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions across the United States and abroad. Selected solo exhibitions include the Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art in Tucson, AZ; South Dakota Art Museum, Brookings SD; Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland OR; San Diego ICA; and the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland KS.

Fallah was the founder and creative director of art & design publication Beautiful/Decay from 1996-2013. In 2009, he was chosen to participate in the 9th Sharjah Biennial. In 2015, Fallah received the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant. In 2019, Fallah’s painting Calling On The Past received the Northern Trust Purchase Prize at EXPO Chicago. In 2020, he was awarded the COLA Individual Artist Fellowship and the Artadia grant. In addition, the artist had a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson, accompanied by a catalogue, and a year-long installation at the ICA San Jose.

The artist is in the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; de Young Museum, San Francisco; Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama; Jorge M. Pérez Collection, Miami; Deste Foundation For Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece; Xiao Museum Of Contemporary Art, Rizhao, China; McEvoy Foundation For The Arts, San
Francisco; Nerman Museum, Kansas City; SMART Museum of Art at the University of Chicago; Davis Museum, Massachusetts; The Microsoft Collection, Washington; Plattsburg State Art Museum, New York; Cerritos College Public Art Collection, California; Los Angeles County Department of Arts & Culture; Schneider Museum of Art, Oregon; Crocker Art Museum, California; Pitzer College Permanent Collection, California; Lonsford Collection, Purdue University, West Virginia; Van Every/Smith Galleries at Davidson College, North Carolina; Miguel Angel Capriles Collection, Caracas, Venezuela; and Salsali Private Museum, Dubai, UAE.

Compound’s Art For All is a series of hands-on workshops that teach various artistic mediums and encourages a new way of making art that’s fun and engaging for the whole family. You will be able to learn drawing, collage, painting, performance, sculpture, ceramics, music-making, and much more.

Art for All takes place Sundays from 11:00 am –1:00 pm. Please arrive 30 minutes before the workshop begins to reserve your seat. Reservations are required. Coffee and small breakfast bites will be available to purchase from Union at Compound. Art supplies are provided. No previous art-making experience necessary.

Workshops are free and open to all thanks to this year’s sponsor, The Port of Long Beach, and a donation by The Rudolph J. and Daphne A. Munzer Foundation.

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Compound is a creative and cultural complex, a unique “third place”, fostering the intersection of contemporary art, wellness, and community impact.

Operating as a nonprofit 501c3, Compound offers contemporary art exhibitions and immersive experiences, wellness classes and workshops, performances, talks, and spaces to wander and reflect — all in an effort to promote connection, belonging, curiosity and growth.

Compound’s restaurant and bar Union @ Compound, in partnership with Baryo, extends Compound’s mission of bringing together community through food and drink.

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