MOJTABA TAJIK

New Collection
28 December -21 January, 2013

Assar Art Gallery is pleased to present New Collection, an exhibition of hyperrealist paintings by Mojtaba Tajik. 
New Collection is an extension of Tajik’s most recognized Boxes series in which his unexpected juxtaposition of still life goes beyond the photos that serve as his roadmaps and work the viewer into a more symbolic dimension. 
His choice of object in these 11 years of painting boxes has covered a variety of objects including but not limited to fruits and vegetables, soda cans and bottles, coins, keys and nails, bowls and boxes, paper boats and now shoes.  Merging the aesthetic of the objects with conceptual concerns, Tajik probes his own social and cultural milieu.  To elaborate, in this case, the shoes in this collection go beyond their aesthetic value and basic function of protection and comfort to signify something more about people’s varied characteristics. 
Similarly, boxes for him do more than just the framing of the work.  They, in fact represent a day or a period in which people’s lives are constructed in.  Although following a similar blueprint to his previous boxes, the ones presented in this exhibition are bigger and slightly different in technique.  The exaggerated size of the shoes and boxes express his aggravation with the overrated attention that is paid to matters that may not be of great significance.
The title of the exhibition, New Collection, an intended pun serves to embody Tajik’s new collection of paintings in addition to carrying its own literal meaning of a new collection of shoes out for the Winter Season. 
Born in 1966 in Tehran, Iran, MojtabaTajik started his artistic career as a photographer.  He was then trained by the Iranian master, Aydeen Aghdashloo which led to his first solo show in 1995.  Since then, he has participated in many national and international exhibitions.