Mas Toudeshki | “Under the Shadow of Sagittarius” : Dastan:Outside x 8Cube x Emrooz Gallery

Dastan:Outside, in collaboration with Emrooz Gallery, is pleased to announce "Under the Shadow of Sagittarius", a solo exhibition by Mas Toudeshki at 8Cube Gallery, on view from September 18 through October 9, 2026.
Mas Toudeshki's ceramic sculptures are composed of soft, faceless, biomorphic forms that-rather than fully realized figures-evoke elemental bodily units, incomplete limbs, and handmade objects that precede language and naming. Arranged through precise adjacencies, oppositions, and intervals, these volumes are rendered in a pure, synthetic palette-light blue, red, and yellow set against grey and black-lending them a playful, innocent, toy-like quality that tempers the inherent rigidity of ceramic with a sense of softness and tactility. Yet this visual innocence grows uneasy when confronted with titles such as "Thirst," "Prayer," and "Bloodshed and Hanging Mace," a tension echoed in the sharp incisions, perforations, metallic silver surfaces, and encroaching black glazes. The same relationship between volume and surrounding space extends into the bases: from layered ceramic structures to pastel-stained papers, the base functions not simply as a support but as part of the work's formal construction, allowing the shadow to move beyond a mere optical effect and become an extension of the volume itself. In Under the Shadow of Sagittarius, these elements come together to form a world in which the apparent innocence of form remains entwined with traces of tension, the body, and injury.
Mas Toudeshki (b. 1983, Isfahan) holds a degree in Sculpture from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (2008). He held a solo exhibition at Emrooz Gallery (Isfahan, 2025). His work has been featured in the 6th Tehran Sculpture Biennial (2013) and numerous group exhibitions, including at Mohsen Gallery (Tehran, 2010), Shirin Gallery (Tehran, 2012), Hana Gallery (Tehran, 2010), and Isfahan Artists House (2007). Toudeshki has also participated in several environmental art festivals and realized multiple public sculptures and urban installations for the beautification organizations of Tehran and Isfahan.