O Gallery presents “A or I”, a solo exhibition of works by Mehrali Razaghmanesh (b. 1983 Tehran).
The works on display consist of two collections, realized in different years.
Both of these projects started with a simple concept in mind, which later on, in process became more complete.
The “A or I” series is about the Northern forests of Iran, which have been the subject of border conflict between Iran and Azerbaijan. According to the registration laws of UNESCO, places are registered in alphabetical order and therefore, the forests have been registered under Azerbaijan’s name, even though almost 90 percent of this forest is situated in Iran. Iran of course, does not accept this.
Later when I decided to use the Gum Bichromate technique for this series, the border conflict turned into a more complex matter; the border between painting and photography, light and color and so on. In continuation, when I was studying on the connection between classical poetry and contemporary art, this series with its twofold title (Iran and Azerbaijan) reminded me of a poem; “Half of me Is from Turkestan and Half from Farghana”*, which led to the idea of a dual installation. There is a duality or some kind of a paradox in this series; and now I can see a connection between this series and the next one, the Seas (which includes geographical proximity) … the line between immovable and mobile, full and empty, green and blue, vertical and horizontal …

The wave rose from the wave.
The second collection, “The Raw Reverie” has come to life from the previous one, although they might seem different on the surface.
At first, I was only interested in the structure of the wave, its technical mechanism and how each wave led to the next and the continuity of the chain. Then the revolutionary character of the sea became apparent to me … Of course, I can’t deny the influence of Hokusai in this process.
In contrary to the forests, where I needed to change the location in order to find a new scenery, I was faced with a new challenge while working on this series, the place was submissive to the time … In fact, there was a correlation between the equation of time and space. There was no need for me to move in order to find something new, time would do that on its own. There was movement. Even though by the nature of photography the scenes would have become frozen, this was yet another paradoxical aspect of this process. Nonetheless, I tried to remain faithful to the spirit of the movement in this collection. The initial idea was that each second, the moving image consist of twenty-four frames of still images, and I tried to make an effort (unsuccessfully) by putting them together, but little did I know …
In conclusion, the purpose of this show is to bring order to disorder and distress and to find a way to coexist with dual and sometimes conflicting natures such as water and fire; and to experience a sense of unity.

*From a poem by Rumi

– Mehrali Razaghmanesh