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| Study in V/2 (2013) |
Mehraneh
Atashi is an internationally acclaimed artist from Tehran. She has contributed
to exhibitions around the world and her work is currently being showcased as
part of the Light from the Middle East exhibition at the V&A in
London, which will be exhibited until 13 April, 2013. She has
developed a distinct style of putting herself in the picture and making herself
relevant to the photography process and the context in which she is shooting.
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| Study in V/2 (2012) |
‘My
interest in self-portrait is twofold: on the one hand is inserting myself into
a genre and establishing a relationship with photography as both a medium and
an apparatus. On the other hand self-portrait is a mode of re-capturing a
visual space, an attempt to re-claim a space in the picture plane hijacked by
forces of power, a space within which I am trying to insert myself. I am
interested in where these two approaches to self-portraiture collide:
photography and power.’[1]
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| Study in V/2 (2012) |
Her
current project, ‘Study in V’ stays
true to her style of having a presence in her pictures through self-portraits, are
now replaced with her fingers in the ‘V’ or peace sign. Influenced by Ai Ai Wewei’s
‘Finger’ series, every picture she has taken is obstructed by this sign so as to create an interference in the space in which it occupies, hence cleverly reflecting the current political reality and resistance Iranians face today. The 'V' sign can also be interpreted into different meanings in different cultures: this was used as 'peace' during Iran's 2008 Green Movement.
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| Study in V/2, Veniz (2012) |
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| Study in V/2 (2013) |
(All images courtesy of the artist)
