AFARIN SAJEDI | ECCE MULIER Solo Exhibition at DCG London

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Dorothy Circus Gallery is proud to pre-sent the first UK solo exhibition by the renowned Tehran-based, Iranian artist, Afarin Sajedi.

This solo show inaugurates DCG London’s 2019 exhibition programme: Turning Page. Sajedi’s exhibition, titled, ECCE MULIER, takes inspiration from the psychoanalytic analysis of the feminine depths observed first by Goethe and then by Jung, and acknowledged as the source of the creative power of the unconscious. Sajedi received classical pictorial training and her expressive path is intertwined with magical symbolism and the most contemporary influences of American Pop Surrealism and Asian Neo-pop. She powerfully and courageously synthesises the thoughts of post-modern women with female emotional patterns that relate to multiple experiences and existential conditions.

The result is a rich psychological portrait that explores the inner spiritual nature and coexistence of love and strength in the maternal myth. In a bold duel of light and shadows, Sajedi explores the dreams, solitudes, battles and goals of the universal woman. The large canvases of the artist convey a message rich in al-chemical, religious and literary symbols. She inventively overcomes any temporal or cultural barriers while shedding more light and offering further understanding of the contemporary woman.

The intense and ironic large paintings re-evoke female archetypes from Goethe’s, Kingdom of the Mothers, to elaborate Shakespearean characters, the surreal adventures in the writings of Miguel de Cervantes and Italo Calvino, to the films of Lars von Trier, until reaching—with the artwork, You Look Ready—the most extreme form of contemporary mythologies thanks to the sublime re-interpretation of The Bride from Quentin Taranti-no’s critically acclaimed film, Kill Bill. In choosing to open the exhibition on International Women’s Day, Sajedi seeks to display a veiled but refined allusion to the process of construction and deconstruction of female social identity. The suffering and frustration of unacceptable violence that continues to afflict women and their emancipation are expressed by the red eyes, bitten lips and warm cheeks of the heroic characters.

With this exhibition, Dorothy Circus Gallery emphasises its constant commitment and keen interest in the representation and iconography of women in the art world. The gallery’s 2019 curatorial programme will dedicate particular attention to maternity and the relationship between humanity and the creative process. It is a theme that takes inspiration from the nadir of this last decade and symbolises the closing moment, the last visible light before nightfall, the last moment in which we are conscious, just before turning to a new chapter, a new decade towards new knowledge, understanding, and humanity.