A group paintings exhibition titled ‘Still Life?’ was inaugurated at the Iranian Artists’ Forum (IAF) in Tehran on Friday.
A total of 26 oil paint and acrylic works - figurative and abstract - are showcased from 11 artists including Hossein Karami, Kajal Fakhri, Arash Fathi, Shadi Saeedi, Mostafa Soltani, Amin Fakharzadeh and Atena Fereiduni, public relations office of the IAF reported.
In an introduction to the exhibition, Fathi writes: “Still life has been the subject of paintings by many known artists for centuries. But the question is if these paintings try to show lifeless nature of the painted objects or suggest a potential intangible life which causes their existence, then is the life we call still, really so?”
A still-life painting is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, or shells) or man-made (glasses, books, vases, jewelry, coins, pipes, and so on).
With origins in the Middle Ages and Ancient Greco-Roman art, still-life painting emerged as a distinct genre and professional specialization in Western painting by the late 16th century, and has remained significant since then.
Curated by Fakharzadeh and Fereiduni, the exhibition presents different perspectives of artists towards the subject so that their works can help visitors make a comparative analysis of still-life genre.
The two young curators, who had a separate group painting exhibition at the IAF last year, believe if they continue their team work, it can help them excel in the field.
“Our previous exhibition ‘Copyright-Self Portrait’ was welcomed by both the public and professionals. However, it was not perfect and the lessons learned from that experience helped us present our best in the current exhibition,” Fereiduni said.
On the differences in the works although they deal with the same subject, Fakharzadeh said: “We did not intend to impose our view of still-life painting on the curation as the essence of a group exhibition is the variety of perspectives and diversity in techniques which make it attractive for the audience who can get familiar with different artistic features”.
The paintings are priced between $100 and $1000 and are on display till August 22 at the IAF, Art Garden, N. Musavi St., Taleqani St.
