Two Mobile photographers, Ashelea Penquite and Sarah Parvardeh, are reuniting for a joint photography show called “P2” (short for “P Squared”) on Saturday, September 26, at Satori Coffee on Old Shell Road. The show runs from 7 to 10 p.m., with $5 admission going to the Downtown Creative and Wellness Foundation.
The exhibit brings together photography the two artists have made in the four years since their last joint show, Word of South, which was also held at Satori in 2005. Work will be displayed in a range of media and frames, and priced to be affordable for buyers, an approach the artists say is meant to make collecting original art accessible to more people. The photos will remain on display in Satori’s back room for a week after the opening. Musical guests for the evening include Adam Taylor, Zach DePolo, Trey Lane and Penquite herself, performing a mix of acoustic, electronic, violin and percussion-based music.
Building Toward a New Downtown Art Space
The show doubles as a fundraiser and reintroduction to the community for the pair, who were recently named directors of photography for a planned downtown creative space called The Umbrella Seed. Penquite and Parvardeh describe the project as an inclusive art and creative center focused on community events, education, green living and artistic expression, with fellow artist Zach DePolo among those helping get the space off the ground.
Within that project, the two are also launching a department called Black Velvet, envisioned as a nonprofit photography studio open to the public for darkroom use and photography lessons. “P2” is the first in a planned series of fundraiser shows meant to help get Black Velvet and the broader Umbrella Seed space up and running.
A Shared History at the University of South Alabama
Penquite and Parvardeh’s collaboration dates back to their time at the University of South Alabama, where Penquite majored in photography from 2003 to 2006, working as a darkroom lab monitor and serving as president of the school’s Photography Association. Parvardeh joined her in 2005 to help produce Word of South, the university’s community photography show, which the pair say broke attendance and sales records for Satori Sound & Coffee at the time.
Since then, both artists have stayed active in Mobile’s art and music scene. Parvardeh has organized several shows at Satori Coffee, including a 2009 installation and fashion art show called Redemption, and has exhibited photography in New York and Huntsville and paintings in Atlanta. Penquite spent time running a tattoo shop in Birmingham and building an art and music career in Jacksonville, Florida, before returning to Mobile, where she now curates local artists’ work at Ashland Midtown Pub and teaches guitar and photography lessons.