Plumbing the depths of realism

Life in Iran would be difficult without humour and criticism. There is always room for both even in a society with little colour, an aspect Iranian artists understand only too well.

The characteristics of feeling and constructive criticism are ubiquitous in their work, which often deals with issues the people of the country face in everyday life.

Ramin Haerizadeh's recently exhibited works tenaciously infuse new life into familiar forms in a visually and intellectually complex manner.

With humour and a deft hand, he has composed a new paradigm for artistic introspection with his beautiful, macro-scale self-portraits.

In each of the three series presented — Theatre Group, Men of Allah and Today's Woman — elements of his cultural heritage emerge as the basis for his graphic sensibility.

The traditional ornamentation, patterns and compositions found in Iran's architecture and miniature paintings are used all along.

Yet the emphasis is not on reintroducing the time-tested visual themes of a great civilisation. Instead Haerizadeh ignites a process distinctly removed from chronology and convention — one that began with the group of images called Theatre Group.

For this series, Haerizadeh found inspiration in Tavier theatre. One of the most popular scenes was the wedding of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), in which the character wearing the white bridal gown is, notably, a bearded man.

Taking off on this, Haerizadeh has placed his own portrait — himself a thickly bearded man — in the guise of a chador-clad female.

“Theatre Group came about from the religious passion plays of the Qajar period,''

Haerizadeh says about the concept behind the series.

“These plays, often staged even today during Ashura celebrations, had men playing the roles of women. This was because only males are considered suitable for the profession.

"I have drawn the imagery from my own life but the inspiration was drawn from this traditional practice, which is funny by itself.''

Combining the artist's signature style of photo manipulation and his penchant for performance, the Men of Allah series reaches the foundation of Haerizadeh's talent.

A bizarre pastiche of images of his own face and body, the series blurs our conception of gender and form. Morphed faces are set atop bloated bellies and bearded faces are scarcely concealed by swaths of patterned fabric.

“Men of Allah is an extension of the Theatre Group idea but moves from static portraits to inherent energy and implied movement,'' Haerizadeh says.

At first glance, the series appears to be funny and fantastical — a grotesque collective of men with cellulite bulging out of their bodies.

But on realising the irony and satire, we can say these gruesome and horrid torsos point to a society where gender dichotomy is deeply rooted.

As described in the media, in a society divided by gender — where schools, libraries, public buses and subway cars are categorised — shame is the rule of the game and voyeurism the art of the eye.

Today's Woman stems from Haerizadeh's desire to express the full range of his experiences in eye-catching mixed-media collage.

The free-form arrangement, which plays on the topics and covers of pre-revolution women's magazines, is juxtaposed with the artist's own images and drawings.

The use of new mediums foregrounds the artist's humorous and sharp criticism of the political and social situation in Iran today.

“These works are also rooted in Iran's recent history but they are more external in nature and are graphically more representative of the pop culture and events in Iran.

"It seems humorous to me. I see in myself many elements of a joker — what is traditionally known as a talkhak in Farsi. In the Qajar period and earlier, he was the only figure allowed by the ruler to poke fun, to parody society.

"I certainly don't enjoy that same privilege but that historic role in society is definitely an inspiration, maybe even an aspiration,'' Haerizadeh says.

Born in 1975, Haerizadeh went to Tehran University in 1994 to study economics but soon left to pursue his interest in photography, training under the celebrated Ma'ssoumi.

After he took up photography, a string of acclaimed international exhibitions earned him a reputation as an artist.

The adage “a picture is worth a thousand words'' perfectly fits Haerizadeh's works, which suspend the image somewhere between the state of an idea and its presence in a medium, luring the viewer to reflect on what it means to look at a picture.

The photographs reflect colours and compositions from everyday life. But with the use of techniques and devices, the artist proceeds to discard the realism by subverting the image.

By splitting, mirroring and twisting his images, he brings unseen aspects to light. There is a joy in seeing our everyday surroundings metamorphose, reordering our perceptions.

“The creative process is an essential part of my life,'' Haerizadeh says.

“The technical process [I use] has, of course, recently evolved from photography to include collage.

"But I see the two media more in terms of how they represent different aspects of my creativity. ... Men of Allah and Theatre Group are products of introspection and working alone in my studio, whereas the collage in Today's Woman comes out of a more outward-looking creative mood.''

Haerizadeh marked his debut in the UAE with Wonders of Nature. The exhibition of 24 photographs placed him at the centre of the Iranian conceptual art movement.

He began with urban and rural landscapes and proceeded towards manipulating the image until it depicted the truth.

“I am influenced and inspired by my surroundings, cultural history and social environment. My art represents this climate and my reactions to it, which can be found in much of my work,'' he says.

A joker, or a trickster perhaps, Haerizadeh is an artist with a constructive philosophy, emphasising the odds of past and present.

Layla Haroon is a freelance writer based in Abu Dhabi.