TEHRAN – The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMCA) is celebrating the genre of hyperrealism in its new exhibition that opened on Monday.

33 prized artworks representing the art form are on view at the showcase entitled “Hyperrealism: From Image to Reality – a review of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art’s postmodern collection”.

Hyperrealism is a genre of painting and sculpture in which the artworks have a resemblance to a high-resolution photograph. Hyperrealism is considered an advancement of photorealism by the methods used to create the resulting paintings or sculptures.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Deputy Culture Minister for Artistic Affairs Mahmud Salari categorized any comparison between hyperrealism and photography as a serious affront to hyperrealism.

“The hyperrealism genre should be viewed as being somewhat like alchemy; its magnificence can be observed from such a perspective,” he said and noted that his organization would carry out some measures to stop derogatory remarks offensive to this art form.

In an Instagram post published on Tuesday, Homa Gallery, a major art center in Tehran, praised the exhibition curated by Jamal Arabzadeh.     

The gallery said that when the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art was inaugurated in 1977, it was among the world’s top seven museums of contemporary art.

“The passage of time proved this fact,” the gallery stated.  
   
The TMCA is home to works by many august artists of the West, including Claude Monet, Francis Bacon, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, and notable in the world for its historical narration of art with the largest collection of Western art that exists in the East.

The exhibition will run until June 25, and is concurrent with “Footprint”, which has been called “a reflection on the relationship between artists and the surrounding world” by the organizers.

Over 80 works by foreign and Iranian artists are on view at the exhibition.

During the opening ceremony of the exhibits, TMCA officials awarded Jamshid Nasseri, the husband of artist and collector Manijeh Miremadi, with a plaque of honor for donating a collection her works to the museum.

Photo: A poster for the exhibition “Hyperrealism: From Image to Reality” underway at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.

MMS/YAW