The dominant trend in art auctions and exhibits dictates that dealers and patrons go after the big names.
Going against the trend now is an artistic group called 'Kajorast' (literally upright).
In an exhibition called Sidarsi (30x30) the young group is providing a challenge of sorts in the world of art.
Sidarsi opened on July 15 and has one more week to go. It showcases over 120 small paintings that are stuck on the walls of Pardis Gallery at Iranian Art Museum Garden located in Tehran's Dr. Hesabi Street. While the paintings do not bear signatures, or titles, they all have the same price tag: 7 million rials ($200).
"The exhibition is aimed to maintain anonymity of artists," manager of Kajorast, Reza Baniardalan told Mehr News Agency. Unaware of the artist's name, the audience would naturally choose the works that agree with their personal tastes and preferences rather than going by well-known names.
"Our point is not to denounce business in the art world. We just felt that such an approach was missing in our forums of visual arts. We are not gallery owners focusing on business. Luckily, the Iranian Art Museum Garden seeks events of a different nature, and thus helped us in putting up the exhibition," Baniardalan said.
A Novel Idea
"The idea of the anonymity occurred to us when we were adding tags of artist's name to the works. What would happen if the painting didn't have the names of their creators? That's what we thought. So in cooperation with around 110 artists, we made the idea operational."
In the very first hours of the exhibition, half of the paintings were sold.
"This idea though has brought out a debate in the visual art community, which is noteworthy indeed. Without the artist's signature, the audience has to judge the work for what it is. I hope Kajorast will be able to continue with such exhibits in the future and bring it to perfection," said painter and university professor Hadi Jamali, who has participated in the event.
"But in modern painting, size matters, and larger works are likely more attractive. When a painting is confined to small dimensions, it is often limited to abstracts or landscapes. In spite of this, artists are prone to fill up small canvases and thus create superficial works," Jamali said.
"On the other hand, there is a catch with the larger canvases. The bigger they are, the harder it becomes for the artists to conceal their signature style," he added.
The exhibition starts at 10 am and closes at 10 pm.
It showcases unsigned works by artists including, Mehrdad Mohebali, Kambiz Derambakhsh, Ahmad Vakili, Esrafil Shirchi, Manizheh Sahi, Nasser Palangi, Husseinali Zabehi, Ramin E'temadi, Mohammad Hadi Fadavi, Jamshid Haqiqatshenas, Abdi Asbaqi, Ahmad Morshedlou, Adel Younesi, Saghar Pezeshkian, Reza Rinei, Hussein Cheraghchi, Reza Afsari, Bahman Nikou, Ana Muhammad Tatari, Dariush Qarazad, Bahman Abdi, Omid Shayan, Rasoul Soltani, Ali Soltani, Behzad Shishegaran, Fereshteh Setayesh and Homayoun Salimi.
