TEHRAN – Works by Iranian artist Hadi Fallahpisheh are on view in an exhibition at the Power Station in Dallas.

The Power Station is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to providing a platform for ambitious contemporary art projects in Dallas, Texas. 

Housed in a Power & Light building constructed in 1920, artists are invited to respond to the raw character of the architecture, offering an alternative to the traditional gallery and museum context.

In a statement published for the exhibition entitled “Young and Clueless”, the organizers said called his practice multidisciplinary. 

“He works across painting, photography, sculpture, performance and installation to shape narratives that read as fables. Each tells a story. But none square to any singular reading. They speak of things and the impermanence of their respective meanings, empty and dim, like a vessel’s interior.

“Fallahpisheh produces paintings in blackout conditions. What presents as quickly rendered line work, is in reality, hours spent in isolation with photosensitive paper, color gels and a flashlight. The subjects take the form of archetypes–a house, a bedroom or a landscape–inhabited by a cast of recurring characters–a human, a mouse, a cat and a dog. The works tell a story of a quasi-family unit in bouts of soft violence and conflict, where scenes of antagonism and togetherness play out against each other and recede to contrasting themes of defeat and victory, anxiety and certainty.

“Throughout the exhibition, Fallahpisheh deploys clans of stuffed animals that suggest familial units. They are seen blissfully wide-eyed and wedged inside ceramic vessels. With ‘Young and Clueless’ (a moniker Fallahpisheh has repeatedly ascribed to previous similar bodies of work and exhibitions.), two outer pots squeeze a third interior vessel, suspending the form mid-air. The soft, pliable object collides with hard, delicate forms.

As a graduate of photography, Fallahpisheh has organized numerous exhibitions in America, Germany, England, Spain and Iran.  

The statement for the exhibition also said, “Framing the photographs and sculptures are antique quilts. As symbols for warmth and shelter, textiles gesture to quaint interior decor and symbolic family heirlooms. As silent recorders that vibrate with memory and nostalgia, the quilt reflects each body it drapes and touches. Embellished with abstract imagery and playful patterns, the talisman recalls personal associations and memories.

“Fallahpisheh is a storyteller. But the narratives that can easily be misinterpreted as sardonic or derisive are deliberately sympathetic. The cast of characters long for a sense of belonging and openness. In their world, Fallahpisheh cultivates an environment from the darkness where things have a place and ground, like a voice in the dark singing into the light.”

The exhibition, which was previously held at Rodeo in London in 2021, will run until May 15.

Photo: This file photo shows works by Iranian artist Hadi Fallahpisheh on display at Rodeo, London.

MMS/YAW