Wall Allusions
In continuation of the process of studying the works of Mehdi Sahabi, Mojdeh Art Gallery with Saadat Afzood as the Curator, this time decided to hold a research exhibition based on Mehdi Sahabi's photographs and paintings from the collection of Graffiti in the period from April 26th until 10th of May 2024. This research, which was formed based on a comparative study, was a new look at Sahabi's "Graffiti" collection that presented his special worldview to the audience as much as possible. The collection of photos consisted of 17 works of Graffiti of the 1979 revolution, which were placed next to the paintings of this collection cwhich created in the period of 2007-2009. Sahabi's attention to Iranian graphics during the revolution as a neglected part of Iran's oral history and their representation in his paintings was one of the remarkable points of this exhibition.
Wall Allusions
Examining Mehdi Sahabi's photos and paintings from the collection of "Graffiti" is a comparison based on the form and detached from the content between two collections. This connection can be examined both in terms of form and meaning, Sahabi in the paintings of the Graffiti collection by bringing the wall to the surface of the painting and by emphasizing on the object of the wall itself as a presence rather than a painting, has established a new insight in representation that introduces us thoroughly to his worldview.
Sahabi creates his personal actions by using the social image forms he recorded during the days of the 1979 revolution. The use of one by one visual elements included in the Graffiti of the revolution by him in his paintings indicates the expansion of the community and city space into the space of painting.
Sahabi's actions, behind a subtle humor, challenge the serious content and start a kind of dialogue between Sahabi and himself, it can be said that the slogans become the artist's being arena and finally lead to a special appearance on the surface of the canvas, which for Sahabi is a space full of memory and connects the past to the present. In addition to the protest-social content of the format in the photos, he adds a kind of poetry and tenderness to his paintings and creates allusions in the content.
"Art is ultimately a metaphor or an allusion, and an intelligent view is a view that looks for a second language that can be found behind the apparent language." Mehdi Sahabi
Saadat Afzood
