TEHRAN-An exhibition of artworks by the Iranian artist Siamak Filizadeh is underway at the Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

In the exhibition titled “Born to Be Pawns,” Filizadeh meticulously unravels historical narratives, blurring the lines between past and present and between fantasy and reality, Galleryinfo reported.

“All of these images, collages, individuals, and scenes stem from my own sense of confusion. Through this exhibition, I aim to convey my feelings of disconnection and bewilderment, inviting viewers to engage with these narratives,” he said.

“The overlapping layers and concurrent narratives in these montages are not mere fantasies or legends but rather reflections of our contemporary world. The tales within this project feel both distant and intimately close to me. Narratives from the Torah and the Quran unfold on the streets of a seemingly fictional city, a city that feels both remote and familiar,” he added.

“Everything lies within these nuances: the grain of concrete walls, the hue of garments, flushed countenances, moments of dread and celebration, and the myriad of meticulously chosen and photographed miniatures. They coalesce to form a narrative. It’s not about a grand tale; these seemingly trivial details, which emerged from grand narratives, now tell stories suspended between reality and fiction, belonging neither here nor there,” the artist noted.

“Perhaps every inhabitant of this city can be likened to the builders of the Tower of Babel, who aspired to touch the divine. While the Tower of Babel no longer stands, the quest to connect with God endures. Could it be that every city signifies this pursuit of the divine? We’re familiar with the tale of Babylon – that in striving for God’s stature, our languages were confounded and communication shattered,” Filizadeh continued.

“My narrative is yet another chronicle of aspiring for the divine. This time, the tower stands tall. Its pinnacle is lost in the vast sky’s expanse, seemingly touching the divine. Yet, even with a shared language, the city’s inhabitants found understanding each other elusive. A golden pickaxe was forged to bring down the tower,” he said.

Filizadeh 54, received his high school diploma in Art in 1990 and graduated from the Tehran Azad University with a B.A. degree in Graphic Design in 1995. In 1988, he started his career as a graphic designer, working in different fields of design, advertising, branding, and visual arts. 

He has worked as an art director and graphic designer for a number of large institutions and international festivals and received numerous poster and book design prizes. His works are in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum (California, the U.S.) and Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City, the U.S.) as well as in various private collections worldwide.

Erarta is the largest private museum of contemporary art in Russia. Erarta Museum collection contains over 2,800 works, dating from the 1950s to the present and ranging from realism to abstraction and primitivism, by more than 300 artists from all across Russia. In addition to paintings, it includes drawings, prints, sculptures, installations, and video art.

Every year, Erarta stages around 40 temporary exhibitions of paintings, sculptures, photographs, fashion, design, and video art. The museum showcases up-and-coming talents from Russia and abroad and established stars of the global art scene.

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