GENDER AND EXPOSURE IN CONTEMPORARY IRANIAN PHOTOGRAPHY at Gallery 44 (401 Richmond West), to June 16. 416-979-3941. See listing. Rating: NNNN
It takes subtlety and wit to survive as a contemporary artist in Iran, and those without a talent for layered meaning generally can’t flourish.
This show focusing on gender is a celebration of grace under pervasive cultural pressure.
Most striking is the exhibit’s utter contemporaneity. Arman Stepanian’s photos employ a rich visual poetry to address the situation of Iranian women.
Abbas Kowsari explores the male side, divorcing hyper-masculine images of wrestlers and bodybuilders from their established cultural contexts.
Amirali Ghasemi documents a brief flourishing of coffee-house culture in which bohemian idiosyncrasy and relaxed norms for women thrived for a time.
Ghasemi deftly refers to subsequent crackdowns by excising women’s faces from every photo.
These photographers share a solidarity with all artists who struggle with the limitations and paradoxes of culture, identity and nationality.
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