Ayyam Art Center is pleased to introduce two photographic series by Majid Koorang Beheshti from September 10 until October 11 at the Ayyam Art Center, Dubai. His first solo exhibition outside Iran, entitled ‘Telling Spaces’, will provide a unique opportunity to view the span of imagination, politically reactionary work, and beauty of line created by today’s artists of Iran.

In Beheshti’s 2007 series, ‘The Cubic Paths’, the stark crispness of monochrome constructions, angular or often curved and offset with bold ebony-shadowed areas and clean lines in repeated sequences, create foreign landscapes reminiscent of Bauhaus and, at times, Surrealist sensibilities. The structures are devoid of their original purpose, allowing the form and line of each segment to stand out and create a new meaning for the viewer.

His 2011 series, ‘The City’s Notebook’, takes a more engaged approach to photography with staged scenes, yet Beheshti’s architectural fascination is carried throughout. Angular rooftops, perforated tunnels and geometric skeletons of edifices frame the interior scene of each photograph. This harsh environment serves to emphasize the despair, chaos, destruction and violence the city has witnessed. With direct references to an armed military presence, the bygone era of the Persian Empire, and various murders of the city’s youth, the images are one of grieving for a lost city, perhaps even a disappearing heritage, and the netting framework and enduring corridors imprisons these citizens in this reality. However, the series culminates on a hopeful note as a young chador-clad woman soars in the air, arms outstretched with a smile on her face, breaking high above the confining cages, her hands releasing a deck of playing cards. True to the Iranian spirit, these people are not entirely broken or hopeless, and though caged, free spirits will continue to rise and the cards will fall where they may.