Iran Inside Out review round up – 56 artist survey show in New York described as mesmerising, a privilege
Posted by artradar on September 3, 2009
IRANIAN ART SURVEY
56 contemporary Iranian artists are presented in the attention-grabbing and timely Iran Inside Out exhibition at Chelsea Art Museum in New York (June 26 – Sep 5 2009).
Surprisingly – or perhpas not – only 35 artists in the show reside inside Iran and the other 21 dispersed outside Iran. Together they contribute 210 works of painting, sculpture, photography, video, and installation on themes such as gender, war, and politics. Complemented with forums and film screenings, theatre performances, music recitals, and panel discussions, Iran Inside Out is part of Chelsea Art Museum’s 2008-2009 “The East West Project”.
In this round up, art experts and critics from the New York Times to the Huffington Post give their perspectives on this exhibition and report that they are enthralled, mesmerised and surprised. In this rich and challenging show unexpected findings and themes abound. Be sure to scroll down and read Huffington Post’s Marina Bronchman who discovers a controversial new view of the veil and its effect on sexual and gender expression.
- Pooneh Maghazehe, Hell’s Puerto Rico Performance Still, Digital C-print 2008 copyright artist and courtesy Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery
Chelsea Art Museum: Curators Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath
The curators explain that Iran Inside Out defies the traditional perceptions of Iran and Iranian art:
An intimate look into the people, both inside and outside a country that is more complex than images of veiled women, worn out calligraphy and what a handful of other emblematic images would suggest…an examination of the means through which a young generation of artists is reconciling the daily implications of cultural and geographical distances with the search for individual artistic expression…offers an unexpected insight into the artistic energy of a culture that is constantly evolving as Iranians living both in and out of the country, come of age living and working in contentious societies.
(Art Radar editor note: the curators of Saatchi’s Middle Eastern show ‘Unveiled’ (in which Iranian art predominated) earlier in 2009 also claimed to go beyond the ‘worn out’ to present a more nuanced and alternative view of art from the Middle East – this was hotly contested by some reviewers who were surprised to find that, on the contrary, bloodshed, repression and gender inequality were ubiquitous and courageously expressed. See related posts section below for the review round up of Saatchi’s show).
Yet there are differences between insiders and outsiders say the curators:
Ironically, contrary to one’s expectations, the artists living abroad often draw more on their cultural heritage, while those on the inside focus more on issues of everyday life without much regard to what ‘the outside’ views as specifically Iranian references. Yet, within these disparities, one element stands strong: the recurrent references, sometimes ambiguous, at times emotional, often nostalgic and on occasion satirical and even tragic to Iran the country, Iran the past, the Iran which has been lost and that which could be found.
New York Times: Holland Cotter
Holland Cotter elaborates on how Iranian cultural references run through the show in this 30th-anniversary year of the Iranian revolution. For this critic, whether inside or out, artists are in touch with their cultural history.
Golnaz Fathi, who lives in Tehran, walks the line between calligraphy and abstraction in his paintings; so does Pouran Jinchi, who lives in New York. The heroic epic called “The Book of Kings” is given an action-hero update by Siamak Filizadeh of Tehran, but also in film stills by Sadegh Tirafkan, who spends part of his time in Toronto.
- “Zaal arrives to help Rostam, ROSTAM 2 The Return” by Siamak Filizadeh(2008)
Female artists are given the spotlight, too:
Alireza Dayani’s fantastical historical drawings; Newsha Tavakolian’s photographic study of a transsexual; Saghar Daeeri’s paintings of Tehran’s boutique shoppers; Shirin Fakhim’s sculptural salute to the city’s prostitutes. Abbas Kowsari documents cadet training for chador-clad female police officers in Tehran. Less interestingly, Shahram Entekhabi draws chadors in black Magic Marker on images of dating-service models.
However, not all of them advocate social causes. Some artists employ a less aggressive tone:
Ahmad Morshedloo’s tender paintings of sleepers, Reza Paydari’s portrait of school friends and the mysterious little films of Shoja Azari are in this category.
Nevertheless, ambiguity does not equate with absence of politics in these artwork:
Repression both inside and outside Iran is under scrutiny in a piece by Mitra Tabrizian about the roles of both the West and Muslim clergy in Iran’s modern history. In photographs by Arash Hanaei, brutal scenes from the Iran-Iraq war and Abu Ghraib are played out by bound and gagged dolls.
Flavorpill New York: Leah Taylor
- Sara Rahbar, ‘Flag #5’, 2007. Textile/mixed media, 65×35 inches
Taylor praises Iran Inside Out as one of the timeliest exhibitions in history:
With violence and political unrest roiling in that country, this exhibit takes a closer look at its inherent contradictions, tradition, culture, identity, and struggle — especially as faced by its younger generation of artists. As gruesome descriptions and footage of the election-protest clampdown continue to slip through Iranian censors daily, having Iran Inside Out‘s creative insight into the country seems a privilege, indeed.
Huffington Post: Marissa Bronfman
Shocked and enthralled by the creative artwork at the exhibition, Bronfman comments:
A sense of duality was apparent in all the various pieces I saw at the exhibit, and there is an interesting geographical duality influencing the artists as well. The artists still living in Iran must struggle with avoiding government censors while not compromising with self-censorship, and those living outside strive to assume an “unlabeled artist-status” within a West-centric contemporary art world. The museum reminds us of their important commonality, however, such that all 56 artists desire to “establish an individual artistic identity free from the stigma of “stereotype” and “locality.”
She explains what draws her the most about the Tehran Shopping Malls by Saghar Daeeri:
- Saghar Daeeri, Shopping Malls of Tehran – Acrylic (Aaron Gallery).
The paintings came to life with a stunning palette of vibrant colors and women depicted in a grotesque, almost fantastical rendering. Heavily made up faces, lacquered nails and peroxide hair instantly made me think these Iranian women were influenced by typical American ideals of beauty. However, Hanna Azemati, who works at CAM and presided over the show, offered a wonderful perspective that I hadn’t originally considered. She told me that, “Because of the compulsory veil, women express their femininity through venues that are allowed in exaggerated ways. They resort to excessive make-up, overdone highlighted hair, thin eyebrows, long colored nails and even suggestive behavior.” This dualism that Iranian women must grapple with, between veiling and self-expression, was communicated with profound contradiction and was really quite mesmerizing.
Contributed by Wendy Ma
Related Posts:
- 56 artist show Iran Inside Out – Will election unrest fan the debate about Iranian contemporary art?– Jun 09
- Abraaj Capital Art Prize fills a void in the art prize world – May 09
- Review round up – Saatchi Middle East art show Unveiled – which artists are critic favourites? – Feb 09
- 28 Iranian women artists in 3 decade survey Masques of Shahrazad in London – Feb 0
Art Radar Asia 
Neda DARZI said
In my Art I try to reflect as a women living in a repressive society, the emotions and feelings of love that is within our reach in our collective soul. Those are natured in my reflections within my art. Therefore I am expressing my hope of reshaping society to be a loving, peaceful and gentile place where we all stand shoulder to shoulder as equals =regardless of race, religion, color, gender. Tearing down the walls that divide us.
As an Iranian artist, I was thinking of a group “Iranian Artists”
Who are gathered in a peaceful place without any binderies & censorship? So I created a closed group in facebook from Iran, because of our security I chose not being seen in public. I was researching for Pooneh Maghazehe, which I found here, good job on this text and work of arts…thanks a lot..