Alternating Currents: Parallel Circuit
Parallel Circuit, a member of the Dastan portfolio, will begin its operation with Alternating Currents (17 June - 9 July 2021), a group exhibition curated by artist Mamali Shafahi (who is also the director of Parallel Circuit).
Parallel Circuit is a multidisciplinary art complex in the center of Tehran, Iran, combining a full-scale exhibition space, artists’ residencies, studios, and a common area for the organization of public events such as workshops, readings, presentations, and screenings.
Parallel Circuit brings together local and international artists sharing an innovative, space-conscious, experimental style with the aim of promoting and supporting the genre of Iranian art which speaks a global language.
The inaugural show at Parallel Circuit, an establishment aimed to provide a platform of exchange and visibility between Iranian visual art and the rest of the world, serves as both a sign post and an mission statement: in this age of bewilderment and isolation, Alternating Currents feed the bulb that lights the room.
By bringing together ten artists from different walks of life and corners of the world, this exhibition takes upon itself the task of providing questions rather than answers - alternatives and layers rather than one dominating truth. In a time of quick fixes and digital distractions, the mere act of looking for solace gives us comfort: here we have a generation of contemporary artists, from vastly different backgrounds, all tackling the issues that occupy our minds - however subconsciously - everyday: the reinvention of identity, gender, truth, hierarchy, history and symbolism. Where do we go from here?
The artists in Alternating Currents, each in their own way, tread gently and carve out their own space in this transitional period. By challenging the functionality and the value of objects, they define their own universes on the pillars of perception. They take from the past, blur distinctions and challenge our previous categorisations of the world.
They draw freely from contemporary and historical iconography, disregarding conventional hierarchies and value-systems, to create enigmatic new works. They appropriate, reuse, reassemble and reinvent visual elements from limitless sources: social media, folklore, Kitsch, memes, video games, art history and more. We witness works that blur the barriers between art, craft and design, subverting conventional notions of relative value.
And while we may not leave this space with an answer, we will find solace in knowing that others, too, are as bewildered as we are, trying to challenge the present and to imagine a path in the vastness that lies before us. There is comfort in this.
