Press Release
In continuation of O Gallery’s support and representation of artists from other cities in Iran, O Gallery is pleased to present “Alleys,” curated by Behzad Nejadghanbar.
Alley remains to be one of the constituent elements of any city: the in-between space of home and what’s out there. Alley is the border between the very public and the very private. In this group exhibition, 16 paintings on canvas by four artists have been selected. The different alleys of Iran portrayed in each artist’s individual style illustrate their unique impression and experience.
Samila Amirebrahimi (b. 1950, Tehran) is one of the few artists with a long career of painting cityscapes and alleys. By portraying an illusive view of the alleys of Yazd and Damavand, she creates a mysterious sense, which similar to many of her other work, express the alienation and loneliness of people in the city: alley as a secret.
In Zahra Gharakhani’s (b.1980, Isfahan) alleys of Isfahan; however, all details of human presence is eliminated, capturing a realistic sense of the alleys while at the same time shedding light unto an awful fact: alley as a modern place for a fragile and minuscule comfort.
Mehdi Chitsaz (b.1973, Qazvin) on the other hand, places the old and crumbling alleys of Qazvin at the heart of his paintings. His warm colors and crooked alleys bring about the memories and desire to perpetuate the process of deterioration: alley as a decaying body.
Hamidreza Emami (b.1973, Mashhad) eliminates all real details and instead focuses meticulously on light, shadow and form in his paintings of alleys of Mashhad resulting in communicating the overall sense of the alley: a place between the house and street, that of rest and passage. In his alleys, it is still possible to settle momentarily.
Selected Works
