Passerelle Centre d’Art Contemporain is hosting the Iranian artist, Hoda Kashiha (1986, Tehran), for her first solo public exhibition in Europe. In her development of pop painting, ranging from uninhibited Cubism to a cartoonish streak, Hoda Kashiha at first sight presents a joyous selection of works yet they sometimes prove to be dark, strange and full of figurative meaning. She often uses humour to create an intimate connection with the visitor; this mechanism also allows her to tackle serious and sensitive subjects related to the social context and political climate of her home country. Her paintings nevertheless deal with major contemporary subjects found everywhere such as gender issues and the place of women in society. She recently declared in Maake Magazine that “my paintings do not conform to gender stereotypes. The significance of masculine and feminine, as well as their roles and behaviours, are a fluid concept that is constantly changing among the characters in my paintings.” For Hoda Kashiha, her protagonists are activists without saying a word, they present their differences openly and remain resolutely optimistic.

Her works are often constructed like types of collages. Various layers overlap and cut-out shapes appear while images are modified by drawing and by the computer. This way of fragmenting motifs results in an exuberant dynamism and vitality, as if the canvases were trying to grab hold of us and shake us, like the first painting in the exhibition bearing the inscription “AAAaaa”, such a noisy visual argument!