David Abir was born in 1969 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and resides and works in both New York and Los Angeles. Known as an Iranian-American sculptor, he graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York.
His current project, Tekrar, revolves around a fictional monument, seen through a historical and archaeological context. The sculptures and installations are presented as ‘ruins’ and shown in a state of excavation. The history of the work is conveyed as a coded language via music that emanates from within the sculptures, further shaped by the acoustic distortion and phenomena of the resonant inner spaces. Although emphasis is placed on the seemingly perfect aesthetic and labor intensive finish, the natural effect of the combined elements creates movement within the static structure – giving the experience a performative, kinetic undertone.
Tekrar was first commissioned in 2005 for a group show in San Sebastian, curated by Octavia Zaya. It was then exhibited at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art. In 2009, Tekrar Level Four was introduced to the international art market at the PULSE Art fair during ArtBasel in Miami. The final iteration of Level Four premiered at Art Platform Los Angeles, 2011. The work was presented in association with the J. Paul Getty’s “Pacific Standard Time.” The exhibition was adapted further in Review, which continued as a year-long exhibition at the LA Mart in downtown Los Angeles.