TEHRAN -- Modern miniature paintings by four Iranian artists are currently on display during an exhibit at the Kashya Hildebrand Gallery in Zurich.
Entitled “New Perspectives in Contemporary Miniatures”, the exhibit showcases artworks by Amir Farhad, Babak Kazemi, Farah Osuli and Sudi Sharifi, organizers said on the website of gallery.
The artists “use the dynamic visual language of traditional miniature painting to pursue innovation, incorporating storytelling, literature and poetry into their practice.”
The selected works express a range of themes, but they all strive to reconcile traditional values with the contemporary moment, daily existence and the particular complexities of our times.
In “The Exit of Farhad and Shirin”, the 29-year old painter Babak Kazemi replaces Shirin’s horse with a bicycle, signifying his modern interpretation of the story and its contemporary relevance.
The veteran painter Farah Osuli has embellished some of her paintings, which focus on women in modern world, with hand-written Persian quotes from the contemporary poetry of Forugh Farrokhzad.
The Houston-based Iranian artist Sudi Sharifi, 52, showcases her most recent series “The Desert beyond the City Belongs to Me” in which she uses miniature figures for interactions between contemporary and historic concepts.
Works by Amir Farhad, 36, demonstrate a multi-layered and indirect approach as well as a keen awareness of his social and political context.
The exhibition runs until October 6.
Kashya Hildebrand founded her gallery in Geneva in 2001. Since 2004 the gallery has been located in the center of Zurich, featuring a large exhibition space.
The main focus of the gallery lies in its dedication to the support and the representation of an international group of young, emerging artists through exhibitions.
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