Lot 125: GOHAR DASHTI

Untitled from Today's Life and War
Signed and numbered 7/7 in ink on the recto.

69.9 x 105.1 cm (27 1/2 x 41 3/8 in).

Inkjet print.

2008

Acquired directly from the artist

In 'Today's Life and War', Gohar Dashti presents ten photos depicting a complex relationship between the daily experiences and the internal psychic experiences of a young Iranian couple. Her works initiate a multi-layered viewing process, beginning with a seemingly innocuous glimpse at the mundane activities of this couple and extending to the disconcerting realization of the presence of military tanks, bunkers and soldiers. According to Dashti, she depicts a "post-war couple" that is "symbolic of (her) generation" who are "entangled in the memories and realities of war as a background to their daily life." Dashti's particular body of work offers a unique voice from her contemporary experience and depicts how, in the context of Iranian artists, political and historical events create specific cultural memories that have specific generational significances while referencing a more general communal trauma that spans generation. For the post-war generation, the sense of mourning reflects the unrecoverable lost innocence and youth and addresses the high social price of war. In fact, what we are presented with is an articulate, reflective and profound statement that allows us to feel a sense of mourning and a sense of hope.
(Jolaine Frizzell, The Persistence of Trauma in Post-war Iran: Gohar Dashti and Today's Life and War, 2009)