Curated by Neda Razavipoor and Vahid Sharifian
The exhibition “Iran on Paper: Last Ten Years” is the first in a series of traveling exhibitions from my large collection of works on paper by Iranian artists of all ages. Each “part” (exhibition) will be curated by different curators. My hope is that in time the whole of the collection will be exhibited and will be seen by a wide audience from many parts of the globe and the catalog collectively will make a worth – while statement and document of work on paper by Iranian artists all the way back to the 1960’s.
Fereydon Ave
Solo show by Arash Sedaghat Kish
In a historical context, the watercolorist was bound by conventions of scale, intensity of color or background. To question these traditional views of watercolour the artists chooses to paint on a large scale, without backgrounds, meantime utilising the same techniques employed in smaller watercolours. These watercolours depict Iranian students as they appear in everyday life, how they dress and present themselves. There are certain dress codes and laws in Iran that restrict what can be worn. In a county where everything has political or religious significance, dress becomes an emotive form of self expression that needs to be controlled.
The tyrant dies and his rule ends, the martyr dies and his rule begins.” — Soren Kierkegard
The battle of good versus the evil is an age old phenomenon. Every religion has some story or other to show us the ‘right’ path from the ‘wrong’ one. Hinduism celebrates the victory of Lord Krishna over the demon Narakasura as Diwali. Christians remember the crucification of Jesus Christ as a supreme sacrifice in the way of God, and so do Muslims commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Husain, the grandson of the Prophet. There is of course the physical suffering in martyrdom, and all sorrow and suffering claim our sympathy, the purest, most out-flowing sympathy that we can give. But there is a greater suffering than physical suffering. That is when a valiant soul seems to stand against the world; when the noblest motives are reviled and mocked; when truth seems to suffer an eclipse. It may even seem that the martyr has but to say a word of compliance, do a little deed of non-resistance; and much sorrow and suffering would be saved; and the insidious whisper comes: “Truth after all should never die.” The thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die.”
Soren Kierkegard
And after Ahriman (The Primordial Devil) fell insensible, AhuraMazda began the creation of the Cosmos. From the boundless time, he created the bounded time, and so began the creation of other cosmic phenomena. In one year, and in six sessions, the six archetypes of the six main phenomena of creation were completed, which are the Sky, the Water, the Earth, the Greens, the Creatures, and the Primordial Man…. The archetype of the useful quadruped beasts is the Evadad or Evakdad Cow (The Godiva – God’ gift) which was created on the right shores of the VahDeity (Beh Deity or the Good Deity) river, in the land of Iran. Evadad Cow is as white and bright as The Moon, whose height reaches three nays (feet) AhuraMazda created the Evadad Cow also to assist the Greens and the Water.
Solo show by Siamak Filizadeh
Goethe has said “Blessed is the nation that does not need heroes”. Dictatorships are the most fertile fields for the creation of heroes and have devised the most compelling reasons for hero worship. Who do we put on a pedestal? Who reflects the very best of human nature? What do we do with a hero who has done something less heroic? Is a hero a hero twenty four hours a day? Is he a hero when he orders food at restaurants? Bible says “There are just men for life and there are also just men for an hour”! What about Greek Heroism which happens at battle grounds? Can heroes simply be those people who inspire us to become better than we are? Perhaps someone who dares to speak the truth to power ought to be modern day hero. A story is told of a righteous man who went to city of Sodom to preach against lies, thievery, and indifference. No one listened. When asked why he continues to preach, he said “I must keep speaking out. I thought I had to shout to change them. Now I know I must shout so that they can not change me.”
Text adapted from Hero’s Hero: The Concept of Heroes by Elie Wiesel, Nobel peace laureate
Solo show by Sasan Ghar E Dagloo
The magic of stories of 1001 nights are brought to life in wonderful compositions and opulent colors of Sasan Ghar E Dagloo. Layers upon layers of sensual lines and colors are echoes of Scheherazade’s stories , the life in Harems, the deeds of the nobles, the fantasies and the realities. The passions, the joys, and the agonies are all depicted, and subtly relayed to the viewers through the incredible choice of colors and magical shapes. Looking deeper, we find that the artist perceives the world in greater depths and breadths than we at first thought. Sasan Ghar E Dagloo, certainly belongs to the sophisticated group of painters, who carry on the mandate of great masters of the past centuries.
Solo show by Goli Khalatbary
Goli Khalatbary has been a professional photographer for more than 30 years. From photography, she has retained images that are molded into silver forms – silver, as it is believed to be a feminine element and is the light-sensitive component of any film. Reality has not been her quest. She insists on freedom to shape forms and catches the rays of light that illuminate her work. She chooses to call this exhibition, Three Years of Silence, but the richness of the collection shows that, despite all that has come to happen in the past 3 years, her vivid imagination has managed to shine through. Or maybe, as she says in her poetry: “and what you understand best cannot be said.”
Show by Azin Agha Rabiee and Maneli Aygani
For Francisco de Goya, fantasy and invention formed the very foundation of art. The fantastic art has existed as a genuine component of all art in every age and place. By developing their own form and content Azin Agha Rabiee and Maneli Aygani have created their own fantastic image of the world. Memories are revisited and dreams are interpreted. Proving Ronald Goetze’s statement that: “Nothing is so fantastically over whelming as the authentic, Nothing as incredible as real reality”.
