JAMM Art Gallery is proud to present Thirty Years, a multimedia exhibition by Yashar Samimi Mofakham and Tarlan Rafiee, a husband-and-wife team whose works complement each other in their quest for truth behind the violence, propaganda and patriarchy that exist in this part of the world. This exhibition is their first solo show in Dubai and will include sculptures, ceramics, mirror mosaics and paintings.

In this exhibition, Samimi Mofakham looks towards his own childhood in Iran as a microcosm of the violence that exists throughout the Middle East. He examines the symbolism of the cypress tree in Persian culture—historically used to describe truthfulness, uprightness and youth—and the image of the fallen cypress tree symbolizing the harsh deaths of young men in war. Iran is rich in cultural symbolism and Samimi Mofakham remembers the depiction of tulips in war propaganda, which blossomed from the blood of young soldiers. The artist utilizes the myths and the harsh realities of his own youth to question the continuous violence that exists today. 

Tarlan Rafiee says her greatest inspiration stems from popular culture and the everyday life of ordinary people—their nostalgias and their hopes. In this exhibition, she draws upon the culture of patriarchy and its manifestations as well as its resistances in Iranian and Arab culture. Alongside the propaganda and war, there was an equally brutal campaign to silence women and keep them at home. The largest installation in this exhibition features hand-painted and baked plates depicting important female pop icons such as Ghamar ol-Molouk Vaziri, the first Iranian female singer to perform her music in public without a hijab (the veil) and Fairuz, the much-loved Lebanese singer. 

Having endured war, revolution and multiple social movements in their young lives, the works of Samimi Mofakham and Rafiee reflect a fragment of their own experiences, which serve as mirrors of their external realities.

Thirty Years by Yashar Samimi Mofakham and Tarlan Rafiee will run from 1–30 October with a private view on Tuesday 30 September 6–9 pm.

  

Born in 1979 in Tehran, Yashar Samimi Mofakham is mostly known as a printmaker and runs his own printmaking studio in Tehran with his colleague and partner, Tarlan Rafiee. He has held three solo shows and participated in more than thirty group exhibitions in Iran and abroad. Samimi Mofakham is also known for his writing on contemporary art, as well as his curatorial practice.

Tarlan Rafiee was born in Tehran in 1980. She started printmaking in 2004 and has since worked as a visual artist/printmaker and participated in more than thirty group exhibitions and held 4 solo shows nationally and internationally. She also works as a tutor in printmaking at her own studio and other art institutes.

Rafiee and Samimi Mofakham live and work between Tehran and London.

Yashar Samimi Tarlan Rafiee PR