Morteza Khakshoor. Studio Visit

About

The exhibit, a recreation of Khakshoor's art studio, is at once both a mirror of the artist's studio and a stage; a space of becoming, unravelling and ritual, where objects, paintings, and drawings beckon the viewer to enter the room where the artist's works are conceived and created. The exhibition includes a group of new acrylic paintings - in various sizes - along with a series of small mixed media canvases accompanied with a large selection of drawings, sketches, compositional studies, collages and ephemera.

STUDIO VISIT invites the viewer to experience Khakshoor's art practice, where art objects, tools and studio interiors formally and thematically draw our attention to the element of ritual within his work. The interplay between the imagery depicted in the paintings and drawings, and how the works are situated in space closes the distance between front stage, back stage, creator and audience. As boundary between artist and viewer breaks down, the studio rituals such as the act of drinking a cup of tea followed by a drawing session become palpable in the gallery space.

In discussion with Emma Gray about his art studio practice, Morteza expresses his profound connection to the act of drawing. He emphasizes drawing's importance to his studio routine which stems from a persistent investment in shapes and forms.

Khakshoor’s semi-narrative images are often an amalgam of found photographs, made-up/imaginary scenarios, seen and remembered events, historical and fictional texts, and cinematic and theatrical resources. Works in this exhibition display artist’s ongoing fascination with psychologically charged scenarios that often defy linear narrative and easy interpretations. This series of work looks into Khakshoor’s most repeated subject - the male character and their behavior - from different and sometimes contradictory angles; one painting depicting a smiling mischievous young man who is dressed only in a slightly oversized sport jacket, and grinning while looking a shattered antique Chinese vase. While another painting depicts what appears to be a very melancholic young man collapsing on his bed looking straight at the viewer.