Roozbeh Nemati Sharif has shaped his works around the traditional Iranian theatrical character who is a servant and appears in black-face and plays the part of a jester who tells it like it is. In his exhibition titled ‘Siah Bazi’ is presented through four different artistic media.
Along with sculptor and educator Kambiz Sabri, and art critic and writer Hafez Rouhani at the Soo Gallery. I spoke with Roozbeh Nemati Sharif about his works in this exhibition.
Hafez Rouhani provided a brief explanations about Nemati Sharif and the works in this exhibition at the beginning of the session. The ‘Siah Bazi’ is the artist’s second solo exhibition at the Soo .Gallery and was held from May 1 to May 29, 2023. His previous exhibition titled The End of Immortality was held at the same gallery in May 2022.
Combining sculpture and puppetry with a focus on Black-face
Roozbeh Nemati Sharif presented his works in his Siah Bazi exhibition in four different artistic media: painting, sculpture, bas reliefs, and collage. According to the exhibition’s statement, his works have formed a cohesive whole around the B
black-face character from traditional Iranian theater. Rouhani, referring to Bijan Nemati Sharif’s artistic background as a sculptor and puppet maker and also Roozbeh’s father, said: “The Siah Bazi exhibition is interesting in that it combines two traditions of puppetry and sculpture. Iranian sculpture usually does not delve into traditions such as puppetry, and this current example is an intriguing attempt to blend these two traditions. Nemati Sharif’s works draw inspiration from various visual traditions, hence aligning closely with the postmodern art movement, which incorporates various visual resources and approaches modernity using various visual sources.”
Kambeiz Sabri, referring to the history of sculpture, presented background about Roozbeh Nemati Sharif’s work. He explained, “Since the late 19th century, materials like resin, styrofoam, and papier-mâché have garnered attention. These materials were first used for modeling and montage in architecture. Around 1930, artists began employing these methods in their works, with Jean Dubuffet perhaps being the most prominent among them. Prior to him, there existed a certain perspective that emphasized authenticity with materials like stone and bronze, believing only these two substances could sustain sculpture. This influential sculptor, was followed by Niki de Saint Phalle, the late French-American sculptor, whose works are installed around the perimeter of the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris. He also mentioned Joep van Lieshout, the Dutch artist who has created large-scale works at the Van Lieshout Studio. Sabri continued, “This form of work has entered Iran and appeared in the works of artists like the late Mohsen Vaziri Moghaddam and even among the works of Ali Akbar Sanati. Parviz Tanavoli also utilized this form of presentation, but perhaps the most significant artist in this regard was Roozbeh’s father, Bijan Nemati Sharif, who, during the years 1357-1372, was one of the few artists working with new materials, and his works can be investigated to trace their roots.”
My Roots are My Father
Roozbeh Nemati Sharif, artist and sculptor, further explained about his exhibition and said, “The root of my work is my father. Much can be said about his working traditions, which began with puppetry and evolved into painting and sculpture, including his breaking from the tradition of only using materials such as stone, wood, or bronze, which were used in modern sculpture, and he had the audacity to move beyond this space and influenced future generations, including me,.” The artist continued his remarks on the entry of colorful sculptures into urban spaces, stating, “When these colorful sculptures enter urban spaces, they changed the environment, since such colorful sculptures had not existed in Iranian city scapes before that.” He also referred to his father’s history of puppetry and added, “The fantasy that my father brought from puppetry to sculpture transformed the tradition of Iranian sculpture intellectually. In addition to his influence on me, digital art, industrial art, consumer art and the media, have also affected my work as a whole.” Sharif continued to provide explanations about the works in this collection. He said, “Last year’s exhibition was heavily focused on sculpture. I had displayed a few prominent bas reliefs and two paintings in traditional style. In this exhibition, a balance was struck between sculptures and paintings, and collages were added to the exhibition towards the end.
I don’t intend to follow tradition
The artist of the Siah Bazi exhibition explained about the presence of Mobarak (the black-face jester) in such works: “My father made these dolls throughout my childhood, so they are present in my subconscious. He produced this character several times for various museums. In one mm works, I depicted Mubarak as an ogre, and this character became part of my art. Because my works were not character-centric before that.” He talked about how he employed this character: “My approach is not about reviving traditions. In my opinion, they served their purpose in their historical time, and if we use them today, it is to express the characteristics of our own era. I accept tradition as the root in my work, but I do not intend to follow tradition.” He further explained, “I have tried to approach contemporary space. The juxtaposition existing in these works makes them contemporary, meaning using all elements to express today’s discourse.” Hafez Rouhani, an art critic, began his remarks with an explanation about the Soo gallery, mentioning that the type and taste of this gallery’s activities are influential in directing the audience’s perspective, affecting the gallery’s inclination to display contemporary works in shaping the viewer’s preconception when viewing the artist’s exhibition. Rouhani emphasized the approach of Roozbeh Nemati Sharif’s works to the term “postmodern,” stating, “I prefer to refer to Nemati Sharif’s works as ‘postmodern’ because we see traces of various visual traditions juxtaposed in these works, which is one of the characteristics of postmodern art. Also, in my opinion, one can identify traces of various subcultures and a kind of fetishism,
especially in the prominent roles that I prefer to call boxes’ instead of bas reliefs. I feel that these works exhibit a tendency to preserve objects that can remind us of something, but the presence of these objects and various signs has created a multi-tonal and multicultural space in the works, which is another characteristic of postmodern art.
He also explained the term “tradition,” saying, “The term ‘tradition’ in countries like ours and other countries in our region can be misleading because we are viewed through the lens of postcolonialism, and our traditions are described from a different perspective. Tradition seems to represent a collection of various things, including religion, a lifestyle, ancient beliefs or rituals, and visual and performative traditions. I don’t know any artist who is restrained by art, and I believe it is better not to mention tradition because I consider any artist who is completely connected to tradition and refers to it in their works to be legitimate. In the case of Nemati Sharif’s work, I also believe that the visual traditions he has used are very diverse and varied.”
This art critic concluded by saying, “I divide the works thematically; in paintings, the theme of battle is more evident. In collages, the artist explores the extent to which various visual elements can be brought together, representing the visual space after the 1980s when diverse and multiple visual traditions are combined side by side. Regarding the bas reliefs, I use the term ‘boxes’ because it reminds me of the works of the Spanish artist, whose works were previously exhibited at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art and included boxes filled with various objects. It also reminds me of various rituals like ‘Voodoo altars’ that place elements and objects side by side to create a multicultural and multilayered space in these works.”