Press Release
O Gallery, presents "Forgetfulness: Running", Serminaz Barseghian's (b. 1987 Tehran) second solo show with the gallery.
In this painting installation, we see landscapes in which the use of color contrast and limited visual elements offer extensive expressive layers to the viewer's mind.
The paintings show a ruined building and a building with a different architecture side by side in a desert like and mountainous geography. However, what draws more attention than this combination of architecture and geography is the presence of figures with what looks to be similar to human anatomy, but with an unusual color and texture for the human species. Alongside this juxtaposition, another element in often seen in the works, something resembling a branch or a strand that has grown and spread from an unknown form, emphasizing a deliberate connection between the works.
Whether the works reference a historical or geographical situation or depict and imaginary space, their meaning does not remain confined to the two-dimensional surface of the image. The artist has arranged the display of the works in such a way that the gaze of the characters can be traced. She has intentionally positioned the works so that the circular frames (image) show what the characters in the rectangular frames (map) see. This emphasizes an expression beyond what is merely visible but also allows the audience to play a role in the mise-en-scène of the exhibition, whether by standing in front of a character’s and becoming a subject themselves, or by observing these interactions from the outside.
In this collection of works, we enter an exhibition where the characters seem like unwelcome guests on a familiar stage, whether we see them as strangers or become strangers along with them.
Selected Works
