Visual Dialogues | The Book of Kings | Shirin Neshat & Fereydoun Ave | March 2019
Secret of Words
Mehran Mohajer & Sadegh Tirafkan
November 2006
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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
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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.
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Roots
Shaqayeq Arabi and Fereydoun Ave
November 2014
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Roots, is about the beauty of nature and about respecting Mother Earth. The two artists, based in Dubai and Paris respectively, have explored different aspects of this theme in their own unique ways. Arabi has used found materials to create installations that speak of the destruction of our environment whereas Ave reflects on the cycle of energy and life in nature through his mixed-media paintings.
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Arabi's studio is filled with a variety of materials that she picks up from the streets in Dubai. "I never know why I am attracted to these objects. But when I start working, these things find their place in my installations, and the reason I subconsciously picked them up becomes clear," she says.
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The concept for this show was inspired by some uprooted bushes that she found lying by the side of a road. She brought them to her studio, covered them with a layer of wax and is presenting them in an illuminated glass case. Objects such as rags, wires and rope can be seen entwined in the dead branches and roots. And the artist has added pieces of paper torn out from a book of poems by Pablo Neruda. "Uprooted plants, covered with all kinds of rubbish, are a common sight in urban areas where new construction is taking place. They speak of growing urbanization, increasing pollution and our lack of regard for Mother Earth. I used Neruda's poem "Memories within me" in this work because these bushes carry a lot of memories within them. Covering the dead bushes with a layer of wax and putting them in a glass case expresses my desire to preserve nature, which is so precious," she says.
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In other installations, Arabi has used palm saplings, and roots and trunks of palm trees that were uprooted to make way for new roads and buildings. The gnarled roots are suspended from the ceiling as a stark reminder of their cruel separation from the Earth, and of the growing distance between human beings and nature. The installations compel viewers to appreciate the beauty of nature as well as to think deeply about our relationship with it.
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Ave's series of mixed-media paintings on paper and canvas, titled Winter Roots, also contemplates our relationship with nature. It features realistic illustrations of various root vegetables. Many of the paintings are split into horizontal sections, with each individual canvas representing different strata of soil and the roots placed in the lower layers. "In winter we usually feel low in energy, and this can lead to depression. But I decided to use this in a creative way by making very realistic paintings of the different types of roots I was eating in winter. The process helped me to understand that energy cycles change with he seasons; subterranean, and gets concentrated in the roots, cocooned deep inside the womb of the Earth, to burst forth once again in the spring," Ave says.
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Press coverage of the exhibition in Contemporary Practices magazine
