An experimental space with a mission to bridge social and cultural gaps within the field of contemporary art, by working with and providing resources for under-represented artists.
FAIRS
OFFSITE PROJECTS
HARLESDEN HIGH SCHOOL
ARTISTS
ABOUT
Private View: 01/02/22 6-9pm
Exhibition open to the general public by appointment only
from the 2 of February
to the 28th of February 2022
RSVP HERE
To Protest is the debut solo exhibition of Iranian political artist Amir Dehghan. Dehghan curates a series of politicised mediums, all constructed from found data that has leaked out of the borders of Iran throughout the last three years—highlighting the scale of oppression that has occurred throughout the series of protests since 2019, visually representing the laws in the Islamic Penal Code of Iran and collages pre/post-revolutionary print-based media. 'To Protest' attempts to sensitise a distant experience, raise awareness of oppression, and pay respect to his family trapped within the distant borders.
Two installations focus on two sets of protests that happened throughout Iran. The first installation, "1500", takes the form of a tesselating Islamic geometric pattern printed on acetate film with a monitor behind it displaying a report from Reuters, stating that 1500 people died in the 2019 demonstrations, one of the bloodiest political demonstrations since the revolution. This work plays on the reader's gullibility, based on the frustration that Dehghan has in his data-based practice due to mediation. The second installation, "Anti-Riot", consists of a stack of boxes rendered and recreated from a leaked image of a peaceful protest in November 2021; this image is of the munitions box the Iranian Revolutionary Guard used against agricultural workers protesting regarding the funnelling of water into munitions factories. Over 100 protesters were blinded throughout the protests due to anti-riot 12 gauge rounds that contained steel pellets. In addition to the installation, Dehghan presents a wall-based work called "found data", which visualises the workflow behind "Anti-Riot" whilst also bringing to light various violations and identities surrounding the 2021 protests.
"To Protest" also presents two abstractions on the Islamic Penal code of Iran in the form of mark-making on oil. These paintings highlight the laws and punishments surrounding protesting throughout Iran, each picture visualising a specific article. The final work, "Untitled", Juxtaposes liberal pre-revolution Iran with its current state by creating a collage of posters from cinema and art before 1979. The present form of print-based media predominantly takes the form of political propaganda.
List of Works
All works made exclusively for this exhibition in 2022
1. 1500
Acetate film, Raspberry Pi, Monitor,Steel
Variable
2. Anti-Riot
Card boxes, Pallet, Persian Rug
120x90x130cm
3. Article 609
Oil,Spray Paint on Canvas
134x 119cm
4. Article 638
Oil, Spray Paint on Canvas
134x 119cm
5. Found Data
Felt board, Gloss Prints, Matte Prints, brass tacks, string
120 x 90cm
6. Untitled
blue back video and militia posters
variable
1500 (Acetate film, Raspberry Pi, Monitor,S
Installation View
Found Data (Felt board, Gloss Prints, Matte Prints, brass tacks, string)
Anti-Riot (Card boxes, Pallet, Persian Rug)
Article 638 (Oil,Spray Paint on Canvas)
Untitled (blue back posters)
