Ala Ebtekar describes his works as visual narratives that are a "crossroad where present day events meet history and mythology." He draws on Persian culture, diaspora, and migration to create “synthetic epics” with multiple interpretations and outcomes. The Art of Stepping Through Time is the artist's response to a poem by the renowned Iranian poet and scholar H. E. Sayeh, whose Farsi and English texts read in opposite directions across a 7-panel accordion structure. Three layers of letterpress-printed paper create a continuous loop of overlapping text and imagery in an upright star-shaped display. The book features blind-embossed Persian motif covers drawn by the artist and is housed in a felted, hand-stitched wool pouch.

Ala”s work has been exhibited widely throughout the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East. As a teenager, he worked with Tim Rollins” seminal group Kids of Survival (K.O.S.) and later studied traditional Persian painting in Tehran. He earned his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and his MFA from Stanford University. He is a visiting lecturer at UC Berkeley and Stanford University and is represented by Gallery Paule Anglim in San Francisco.
When: Wednesday December 3rd from 7 to 9 P.M.
at the San Francisco Center for the Book
300 DeHaro Street (entrance on 16th Street)
San Francisco CA 94103

Ala Ebtekar's forthcoming book will be available for purchase online Dec 3 via our Etsy store. To purchase previously published Imprint books, you can visit our Etsy store online - click the images below for more details.