As suggested in its title, the installation questions the notion of exchange – and also as what has made it safe and why it’s safe for it to light now, something quite pertinent in terms of the way drinking water itself has become a politicized topic and also in terms of territorial control, particularly in the Middle-East region.
His ‘Blood Brothers’, casted in aluminum, is a large work that has 196 pieces in it. Straddling both sculpture and a drawing, it refers to internal conflicts, among the most complex issues to fathom and resolve in this region. His painting ‘Haleema’ is a strong argument for the precious freedom of speech.
In fact, the artist has been greatly influenced by the subject of freedom. ‘The Petro Angel’, as mentioned above, is inspired by Jaffer Panahi’s film ‘Circle’ that amplifies the plight of hapless women in Tehran. The filmmaker’s ‘Panahi’ has also influenced and inspired a work, titled ‘Offside’. It deals with the popular game of football, revolving around five young girls, whereas ‘Fragrance of a Funeral’ touches upon the ceremonial rituals that follow death. A curatorial note explains:
“Based on the impression of a table surface, it holds a similar potential for its reading as a setting for discussions, of a place to hover around. It relies on the dip of the table remains without a set of its front legs, thus bowing like a camel sipping from a pond. The work, a cross between a table and a funeral pyre or even a forensic table, has multiple meanings.”Curator Shaheen Merali underlines the fact that ‘Safe to Light’ is a set of reminiscences of fear and omission, the work is a weapon, an ode to weapons and castration, in reproducing the existing orders in fascinating twists.
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