ShowUp Presents the Safarani Sisters
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 26, 2025, Boston – ShowUp is pleased to announce its upcoming exhibition, Submerged In Time, featuring a series of new works by the Iranian multimedia duo, Bahareh and Farzaneh Safarani. Submerged In Time will run from August 1st - September 28th, 2025. An opening reception will be held on Friday, August 1st, 2025 from 5pm to 8pm.
Identical twins and interdisciplinary artists, the Safarani Sisters are most well-known for their unique productions that blend painting, performance art, and video. The new series of works on view at ShowUp reflect one of their recurrent themes: celebrating and examining the beauty and mystique of memory. With works that evoke scenes of a universal past, the sisters meditate on the defensive and deleterious nature of the mind. The sisters’ work whispers to the viewer’s earliest memories - both subconscious and floating at the edges of our awareness.
Memories of the distant or difficult past may lie buried deep, out of reach, under an ocean, or too blurred to focus. As time drifts on, the sharp edges of memory blur. What once hurt becomes a ghost we miss—a moment that could’ve been joy, but slipped away too soon. Now we chase its echo, longing to turn sorrow into celebration. The mysterious forces of nostalgia may infuse memories with their own agenda of emotion and color. Through paintings overlaid with time-based media, the sisters look both to the past and the future as they address memory and nostalgia and the role it plays in both honoring our past and protecting us.
“Ever since I was first transfixed by the Safarani Sisters work years ago, I have looked forward to the opportunity to support their innovative artwork,” says ShowUp’s Executive Director Christine O’Donnell. “ShowUp is excited that not only will we be exhibiting their work, but also continuing our arts-focused thematic programming throughout their exhibition. Our book club will be reading something selected by the sisters, and our regular Mending Society will convene on Saturday August 9th. We hope to have many people come and enjoy their one-of-a-kind pieces and our events.”
ShowUp is open Thursdays - Saturdays 12-5 and Sundays 11-4. An opening reception for Submerged In Time will be held on Friday, August 1st, 2025 from 5pm to 8pm. An artist talk will be announced in the coming weeks.
About the Artists
The Safarani Sisters, Bahareh and Farzaneh (Iranian, b. 1990) began painting at the age of thirteen. They earned their B.A. in painting from Tehran University and M.F.A from Northeastern University, in Boston, Massachusetts. Currently working and residing in Boston, over the past few years the sisters took on a journey in incorporating video and performance art into their passion for painting. Their pioneering video-paintings and performances have been acclaimed as thought provoking and transformative artistic contributions that weave together loose but striking narratives.
About ShowUp
ShowUp is a 501(c)(3)-designated art activism-focused nonprofit exhibition space in Boston’s South End. ShowUp supports high-potential, talented artists whose work is underrepresented in traditional exhibition spaces due to systemic shortcomings. We focus on delivering transformative experiences for artists and the public through our “Three Es": Exhibitions, Education, and Engagement.
Its mission is to
CONNECT artists to local communities and beyond
AMPLIFY artists and their voices
PROVIDE artists tools for self-sufficiency
EMPOWER artists and curators to experiment, learn, and have meaningful exchanges
Learn more on its website and Instagram.
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