Crows fly in Gizella’s “Garden of Birds”
Iran-based Hungarian artist Gizella Varga Sinaii is displaying her own special collection of gol-o-morgh in the exhibition “Garden of Birds” at the Seen Gallery.
In Gizella’s paintings, crows are replacing the traditional Iranian gol-o-morgh -- a unique style of Persian painting featuring bird and floral motifs in different colors -- some of which are displaced by knives and daggers.
“This is my perception of gol-o-morgh. Some believe it is a clever bird like a crow, while others believe it brings you bad news. The contrast between crows and the divine atmosphere of the Iranian gol-o-morgh style was fascinating for me,” she said in a press release on Saturday.
Gizella, wife of leading Iranian filmmaker Khosro Sinaii was born in 1944, Chakvar, Hungary. She is a graduate of art from Vienna and is a member of the Iranian Women’s Dena Painting Group.
“I have emphasized Iranian subjects over the past 4 decades of my activities. What I have seen and observed around me have been my main issues. I chose gol-o-morgh this time but used my own method and perspective to narrate my intent,” she said.
Besides the collection of paintings, a series of knives, saws and cleavers bearing paintings on the blades are hanging on the wall.
“This is the second time I have experienced conceptual art besides my paintings. I have seen knives and daggers with their handles bearing artworks used to destroy the peaceful lives of human beings,” she remarked.
Husband Sinaii who was attending the opening also talked about the exhibit and said that throughout these 32 years that Gizella has been living in Iran, only her first exhibit had a European atmosphere and style, the rest have been mostly Iranians.
“Gizella tries to depict what is interesting for her in the every day life of Iranians. And after all these years that she has been creating new works, she has become accustomed to Iranian culture.
“Gizella has always had her own attitude on traditional issues. In the world of today filled with varieties of disasters where one does not dare turn on the TV unless desiring to see floods, war, poverty, and death, what should be the form of flowers and birds in such a place? I think it is natural that the flowers and birds of today are different from earlier times.”
The exhibit will run until December 13 at the gallery located at No.16, 12th Alley, and S. Perusal St. off Formosan Ave. in the Shark-e Garb neighborhood.
Photo: Gizella Varga Sinaii poses beside saws and a sickle bearing her paintings in an exhibition at the Seen Gallery in Tehran on December 3, 2010. (Photo by Erfan Abdollahzadeh)
Source: tehrantimes.com
