Leila Heller Gallery x Roya Khadjavi Projects: Playful Oblivion

ARTISTS

Aida Izadpanah | Aref Montazeri | Arash Nazari | Atieh Sohrabi | Azadieh Nia | Bahar Behbahani | Bahar Sabzevari | Baran Shafiey | Behrang Samadzadegan | Dana Nehdaran | Darvish | Farideh Lashai | Farshid Shafiey | Farsad Labbauf | Firooz Zahedi | Leyla Khosrowshahi | Maryam Khosrovani | Maryam Lamei | Maryam Palizgir | Mehdi Farhadian | Morteza Khazaie | Morteza Khosravi | Naeemeh Kazemi | Navid Azimi Sajadi | Parastoo Ahovan | Parinaz Eleish Gharagozlou | Reza Derakshani | Roham Shamekh | Roya Akhavan | Soraya Sharghi | The Safarani Sisters | Tooraj Khamenehzadeh | Zahra Nazari

New York, NY – Leila Heller Gallery and Roya Khadjavi Projects are delighted to announce the group exhibition “Playful Oblivion,” opening on 22nd January 2026. 

The exhibition brings together artists of Iranian heritage working in the diaspora to explore identity and belonging. Spanning painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, and installation, “Playful Oblivion” examines how memory, architecture, the body, myth, and personal narrative evolve across borders and generations. Rather than positioning past and present in opposition, the artists inhabit the space between them. Tradition and experimentation coexist, and fragility becomes a source of resilience. Together, these voices form a powerful collective meditation on endurance, belonging, and the creative possibilities that emerge when cultures evolve through time and space.