Paintings of Three Young Girls at the Art Cultural Center in Tehran

An exhibition of paintings by Behnoush Kazemi, Banafsha Heydarzadegan, and Laleh Fattahi is being held from September 11 to 19, 2023, at the Art Cultural Center in Tehran. Behnoush Kazemi, a graduate of painting from Tehran University of Art, has displayed eleven pieces of her modern paintings, which are oil on canvas. Kazemi has attempted to create abstract and two-dimensional paintings using symbols such as old locks and keys, employing colors like blue, brown, green, and cream, where the elements are entirely traditional and Iranian but presented in a modern format. Banafsha Heydarzadegan, who has also displayed some of her paintings, is a graduate in painting. Her works are very similar to Kazemi's, all being abstract and created using colors like blue, mustard, cream, and red on canvas. In fact, if a viewer does not notice the signatures at the bottom of the paintings, they might think the images belong to one person. The main difference between her works and Kazemi's is Heydarzadegan's use of religious symbols instead of traditional Iranian symbols, with elements like mourning group signs, domes, swords, etc., being prevalent in her paintings. Laleh Fattahi, a painting student, can be distinctly categorized into two groups. Some of her abstract works, created with oil paint using blue and green colors, have a similar color and feel to the previous two artists' paintings, but she focuses more on ancient cedar motifs visible in Persepolis instead of Iranian or religious symbols. Conversely, some of Fattahi's new paintings, which are also abstract and modern, are drawn in light green and brown colors, emphasizing a scarecrow. The painter has depicted mainly the lower part of this scarecrow, with bird motifs or several spoons and forks seen alongside the subject. The presence of these symbols indicates that the new paintings of this young girl, of which only a limited number are displayed in this exhibition, form a complete collection; however, due to space constraints, not all of them are accessible to the public. Nevertheless, a significant theme that emerges in this exhibition is the attention of young Iranian painters and artists to ancient Iranian elements and their presentation in modern and new formats.