TEHRAN -- Painter Abolfazl Lireh is convinced that the most abstract art is music and that music has always played a major role in his works.

Lireh, who is currently holding a painting exhibition at the Seyhun Gallery, told the Mehr News Agency on Tuesday that his exhibit “Sacred Land, Sacred Spirit” depicts the relationship between music and painting.

“I was long familiar with music and tried to make use of it in my paintings. For example, the paintings of this exhibit were inspired by the music of American Indians. My previous series of paintings was inspired by the music of (Ebrahim Hatamikia’s film) ‘Glass Agency’.

“I, as a painter, believe that music plays a great role in painting and I have tried to present my ideas as a combination of music on canvas.

“When a work is done, I always believe it is still not finished. It is completed when a viewer stands in front of it and evaluates the work.

“I don’t like to tell stories in paintings. This is the duty of literature. A painter is responsible to transfer the feelings in an artwork to the viewer. In some of the exhibits, viewers told me they easily connected with the paintings, while some others said they felt like vomiting after seeing the works. This was quite satisfactory for me since I was able to draw an emotional response from the visitors.”

Lireh, who has also held several exhibitions of conceptual art, added, “It is a wrong view to think that with the arrival of conceptual or video art, our traditional art will be forgotten. These new arts act as instruments which can help depict our traditional art. In performance art, an artist can make use of light, music, sculpture, and even theater to present a good work.”

Abolfazl Lireh studied painting at Azad University. He has held several exhibitions at the Barg Gallery and has displayed his conceptual art in several joint exhibitions.

“Sacred Land, Sacred Spirit”, which is his sixth solo exhibit, opened on July 1 and ends today.