Reza Aramesh & Mehrdad Mohebali | Art021: Shanghai, China

Dastan is pleased to announce its debut participation at ART021 with a duo presentation of works by Reza Aramesh and Mehrdad Mohebali at Booth E29, Detour Section, ART021 2019.

Reza Aramesh’s “Action 194” (2019) from his “Study of the Head as Cultural Artifacts” as well as four Silver Gelatin prints from the same series are included in the presentation. These works are an archival collection of news cuttings and online reportage photographs from conflicts throughout history. A singled-out image becomes the original material for the final sculpture. For each marble sculpture, an individual has been modeled, photographed, and scanned, and eventually each piece is hand-carved in a workshop in Italy.

The presentation also includes Mehrdad Mohebali’s most recent paintings. In this series, Mohebali looks at the society and each individual’s roles as well as exploring the contrasts of tradition and modernity. He describes “The world that I know, includes a very crowded and extremely lonely population. Human beings who have narrowly missed each other. They are all playing a role that they have not chosen themselves; yet they take these roles survive.”

Reza Aramesh (b. 1970, Iran) has been living in London since his teenage years. He holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths, University of London (1997). His work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions at Asia Society Museum in New York (2019), Met Breuer in New York (2018), SCAD Museum in Georgia Atlanta (2018), Akademie de Kunst Berlin (2016), the 2015 Venice Biennale, Art Basel Parcours 2017, Frieze Sculpture Park 2015 and 2017, and Maxxi Museum in Rome (2016). He has orchestrated a number of performances and exhibitions in such spaces as at Barbican Centre, Tate Britain and ICA, London. His works have entered public and private collections worldwide including in Argentina, Germany, Lithuania, Poland USA, Belgium, France, Iran, Lebanon and the UK.

Mehrdad Mohebali (b. 1960, Tehran, Iran) is a graduate of Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran. His work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Iran and internationally; including at Lajevardi Foundation in Tehran (2016), the 2015 Venice Biennale, Salsali Private Museum in Dubai (2012), Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (2004 and 2001), Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art (2002).