In his latest collection, Hanaei stands up to the art scene and refuses to follow its conventional mandates. He brings his “for-keeps” and his “not-for-keeps” to the gallery as building blocks of a “lived experience”. He hides that which he rejects underneath a layer of white paint. His collection raises eyebrows, “What are these?” the audience will ask. He photographs what he sees the way they appear to him but without the slightest intention to de-light and en-light. He doesn’t concern himself with the criteria of professional photography — composition, lighting, etc. He only insists on one thing: for everything to be the way it appears to him, neither beautiful nor ugly. In this exhibit, the artist does away with “the artistic undertaking” as if it was an obstacle standing between him and his audience. He invites the viewer to behold life in its doldrums. With this collection, he enters a domain that the artist has been barred from.
Behrang Samadzadegan