MOJGUN BAKHTIARY

Dispiriting Perspectives
6 October -27 October, 2017

Assar Art Gallery presents Dispiriting Perspectives, the latest series of paintings by Mojgun Bakhtiary.

Two years in the making, the 5 exhibited works are the latest creations from the successive series of the artist. In her second solo show with the gallery, Mojgun Bakhtiary reveals a personal yet unbiased narration of the moments in the late 1970s with a special focus on the social milieu where she has had her personal experiences as a young adult.

Paying detailed attention to the sociocultural context in which she lives, as well as her intellectual approach towards contemporary history of her homeland, Iran, have resulted in a meticulous minimal series of black and white paintings depicting the moment of confrontation: the point where individuals astonishingly freeze in the moment and forget how they are fully driven into an area they had hardly ever thought of.

Debating the unbalanced power between socio-political decision-makers and the general public throughout Tehran’s contemporary history, in her latest works, Mojgun Bakhtiary portrays public gatherings in which a collective detached moment is experienced. Exactly where dialogue no longer exists, a unilateral domination takes shape and all this is beautifully portrayed in her compositions of fading crowds of men being frozen in time and space, absorbed in an unrecognized structure that has taken shape of a botanic existence. This time Dahlias, symbolically ominous flowers representing the power that is fully aware of its aspiration, this inviting, absorbing and astonishing charismatic power arranges these still, at times euphoric and somehow voiceless crowds.

In the works on display with her signature flowers and flat backgrounds, Mojgun Bahitary once again takes on an observant tone and pronounces her perpetual reaction to disillusionment, frustration and disenchantment.

In these works, the artist has used photos of social gatherings taken by ordinary people to portray THE moment as described above. Using pencil to create her detailed faded figures and bold floral figures, Mojgun also demonstrates her painterly skills and reminds her viewers once again that social approach in painting could be achieved aesthetically.

Born in Tehran in 1966, Mojgun Bakhtiary earned her MA in animation and BA in painting from distinguished universities in Tehran, where she currently works and lives. With ten solo exhibitions in Iran and abroad and participating in numerous domestic and International group shows, she is one of the celebrated figures of Iranian contemporary art.