Visual Dialogues | The Book of Kings | Shirin Neshat & Fereydoun Ave | March 2019
Secret of Words
Mehran Mohajer & Sadegh Tirafkan
November 2006
​
Total Arts Gallery at the Courtyard and Massoud Nader Present exhibition of Photography by Sadegh Tirafkan with support of Silk Road Gallery this exhibition is accompanied by photographs of Mehran Mohajer Sadegh Tirafkan is a persevering artist who navigates through time and culture in search of his place and identity as an Iranian man in the contemporary world. The medium of photography has become his main platform to construct powerful visual plays, using a combination of elements that he seasons sufficiently with symbolism.
The significance of symbolism throughout Tirafkan’s body of work comes from his Persian root in which direct dialogue is rarely used, but frequently replaced by symbolic languages. How do you inform a culture that has three thousand years of history, rich in tradition and essentially a homogenous and male dominated society? Tirafkan expresses his concerns through images of numerous self-portraits and portraits of friends. He once said, "I began photography by recording what surrounded me. Now I take what is around me in the studio and make it into what I see through the prism of my life and culture." Tirafkan poses himself and others in the studio time after time to explore the meaning of being a contemporary Iranian. Blending tradition, history and memory, he recreates visually compelling scenes that build visceral connection to his ancient country. And this is where the strength and beauty of Tirafkan's work lie.
In reinventing and revisiting Iranian tradition he is also criticizing and challenging his ancestors' long-standing authority. In spite the highly eloquent appearances; I see two hidden trends in his work, which the artist has perhaps introduced even without realizing it: a theatrical staging of all the historic drama of his country, all the painful events of which he experienced intensely, and a discreet journey towards a spirituality which emanates from his whole vision. Here, Tirafkan surreptitiously rejoins the mystical quest which remains, whether we like it or not, the key-stone of any metaphysical edifice of the Iranian world. Born in Iran in 1965, Tirafkan trained as a photographer at the University of Fine Arts in Tehran. Since the late 1990’s he has participated in numerous solo exhibitions and group shows, in Tehran, Paris and New York.
Tirafkan’s work offers an eloquent meditation on modern Iranian man’s relationship to his past and on his search for a meaningful identity in the present. Identity, history and memory have been central concerns in the work of non-western artists since the era of colonialism. Tirafkan, frequently using himself as a model, revisits and reinvents these themes in his series of enigmatic yet visually compelling photographs. He uses words and symbols to communicate with the audience and
Abstract & Lanscape
Mohseni Kermanshahi
February 2005
​
A. Mohseni was born in 1960, in Kermanshah west of Iran. He started painting with Master Rahim Navesi before moving to Tehran. He held his first one-man show in 1994 and has come a long way from his humble beginnings. Landscape, traditional life and nature were always his main subjects to paint and after moving to UAE he found this passion in the local scenery. T
his exhibition would be an exceptional one in Mohseni’s career since he is entering a new period after 10 years of professionally painting landscapes and still life witch is still the close to Mohseni’s heart in a different way. Mohseni has participated in more than 40 solo and group exhibitions in Iran including Tehran Contemporary Art Museum, Australia, Kuwait and the UAE. Mohseni has won a special award from Tehran Contemporary Art Museum as the best Artist of the year in 1996. Mohseni has published 2 books, which are: 1. Nature in the painting of Abdol Hossein Mohseni 2. Painting of Abdol Hossein Mohsenis He is working on two new books at present.
​
International Visual Arts
18 Artists
January 2004
​
Bridging the gap by having an eye on a constellation of art pieces of photography, painting and video shows, of artists coming from different countries, was the ultimate goal of the International Visual Arts Exhibition.
​
The exhibition gathers over 18 artists from Austria, Armenia, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria, USA, and Iran. The exhibition is initiated by Haneen Tamari. Haneen has previously cooperated with Le Pont gallery in Aleppo, Syria.
Vibe Bredhal - Denmark, presents her photos to show the relation between what lives is and what is still.
H.H.Capor - Austria presents in his “My Daughters” an unfinished series dedicated to his real daughters who he can’t see. His portraits with the fictitious daughters are meant to express his mixture of feelings toward them.
Michel Eisenlohr - France intends to show in his “France to Africa” a winding path toward otherness and selfness. In these photographs, humans are passersby leaving behind them a sense of suspense.
Ingrid Fankhauser - Austria, in her works “cities” expressing how enthusiasm creates an image of a place, or a street, which with closer inspection leads to details that give it a name.
Sussanne Gamauf - Austria presents 10 works titled “MAQUETTES”. Out of her focus on the creative will of human kind, and the artistic intervention to nature, these images of blossoms, are used as cut-edges, cut-placements to form and to work out the model - Marquette, of an imagined sculpture. The works vary in sizes; some have been mounted on paper, some on aluminum, and some on acrylic glass.
Mansoora Hassan - Pakistan, with her “Burqa”, wishes to use these works as a point of reference to start a dialogue, and to address the stereotypes about Muslims especially post September 11 aftermath.
Boukje B. Janssen - Netherlands presents her “Motivation Work”, where you can observe the challenge to get in contact with the layer behind the direct visible, and what is hidden behind the skin. Janssen intends to make the presence-absence from shadow to reality.
Shant Khayalian - Armenia. His photos”closer to the sky than to the earth” presents interesting story of Sevan Lake in Armenia and problems of illegal-fishing. Viewer can feel himself in the middle of these photos.
Payram - French, Iranian. His project “Portrait-Passage” is a kind of human’s portrait, which has been related to a landscape. The two photos together represent a person in his mind.
