Portraits Series

The works known as 'portraits' by Hosseinali Zabehi are typologies that are considered his latest body of work. In this collection, all the prominent features of his previous collections can be observed, including the predominance of black, which has, however, shifted towards gray in these 'typologies'. Although this still differs from the artist's symbolism regarding the blackness of his works and its connection to Sohravardi's 'Aql-e Sorkh' (Red Intellect) with the saying 'The end of a dark night is white,' it has moved away from the pure blackness of his earlier works. Simplicity and purity are always evident in his works, and what is depicted on the canvas is a direct expression of his inner self, as he has always emphasized. A significant aspect of this comprehensive collection is the inclusivity of Zabehi's 'typologies,' ranging from nostalgic characters that have accompanied the artist since childhood, such as the midnight midwife, the court lady, the tavern keeper, Hamid Lash Agha, Norouz-e Deraz Ali, the gangster, Ali Eshgh e Lati, and Khan Ali Choopon, to those associated with a period of his work that he terms 'mystical painting': the great Sufi, and finally, contemporary figures that are products of the artist's life in today's society: symbols of poverty like the scavenger, the street urchin, the model, the homosexual, etc. However, all these characters ultimately share Zabehi's consistent technique: a deformation that emerges from darkness and is a result of viewing each of these created characters through a 'distorting mirror'.

Saadat Afzood