Lot 127: Men of Allah (08), 2007

Men of Allah (08), 2007
C-print. 104.8 x 149.3 cm. (41 1/4 x 58 3/4 in).  Signed, numbered of ten and dated 'Ramin Haerizadeh 07' lower left; signed and dated in Farsi lower centre. This work is from an edition of 10.

 Dubai, B21 Gallery, Ramin Haerizadeh, Men of Allah, December 2008 – January 2009 (another example exhibited)

 Private Collection, Europe

Iranian artist Ramin Haerizadeh's Men of Allah series uses digital manipulation to annihilate the realism of photography and create an image which is both recognizable and disturbingly distorted. Inspired byTaaziye theatre, the religious plays popular during the Qajar period when bearded men would play female roles, Haerizadeh places his own portrait in the work and partially clothes it in traditional Persian patterns and compositions.The result is one of humour, beauty, repulsion and social comment.
Haerizadeh likes to think of this series as a response to Shirin Neshat's ‘Women of Allah', in which women are captured in black and white photographs in typically tough, ‘male' situations. Paradoxically, in Haerizadeh's compositions the characters are captured in playful and colorful situations set against confining black backgrounds. Haerizadeh has also called these creatures the ‘Closet Queens', rising to the occasion with themes that address broader political and social issues that are still unacknowledged in Iran. (I. Van Den Eynde, Ramin Haerizadeh, Men of Allah, B21Gallery exhibition, Dubai, December 2008 – January 2009)