A collection of Iranian photography at the Fine Arts Gallery at Cal State Los Angeles

A collection of Iranian photography at the Fine Arts Gallery at Cal State Los Angeles

According to a report on a collection of Iranian photography at the Fine Arts Gallery at Cal State Los Angeles:

“When you’re an artist in Iran, you live a harsh reality.  

“Make a politically subversive sculpture and you’re censored. Create a painting that challenges religious norms and you’re censored. 

“But a new art exhibition showcases how Iranian photographers are able to create images into social and political commentary that fly under the radar. ‘The government of Iran is a religious theocratic government. 

And therefore it controls every facet of creativity in Iran’, says Abbas Daneshvari, curator of a collection of Iranian photography opening this Saturday at the Fine Arts Gallery at Cal State Los Angeles. ‘[But artists] have arrived at the point that they can express themselves in symbolic and metaphoric terms wherein it’s rather difficult to decipher their messages’. 

“For example, ‘Untitled’ is a photo collage of two men who look like they’re locked in a bloody fight. However, one could also say they’re drawn together in a passionate embrace. The image is by Sadegh Tirafkan, who is gay…”