This vibrant contemporary artwork showcases a stunning array of fruits and vegetables on a black background. The composition features a harmonious blend of colors, shapes, and textures, creating a captivating visual feast. Recognizable elements include watermelon, pears, corn, and various gourds, all arranged in a visually striking manner. The artist's skilled use of a mosaic-like technique adds depth and dimensionality to the piece. This still life composition invites the viewer to appreciate the beauty and diverse forms found in nature, while perhaps alluding to the artist's intention to explore themes of abundance, nourishment, and the wonder of the natural world. ...
Hadi Alijani reimagines Persian artistic heritage through a contemporary lens, blending historical motifs with personal and everyday imagery to forge a visual language rooted in Iran’s rich painting traditions. His compositions draw inspiration from Qajar-era visual culture—particularly portraiture and still-life—infused with surreal elements, vegetal forms, and subtly grotesque figures to explore identity, memory, and cultural hybridity. Working primarily in acrylic on canvas, Alijani’s paintings present compressed, floating forms—fruits, plants, creatures—arranged across improbable interiors or landscapes that unsettle spatial logic. This visual lexicon functions as a “contact zone” where Eastern and Western perspectives collide, creating poetic narratives of displacement and nostalgia. Through rich patterning and unexpected juxtapositions—such as exotic flora alongside architectural details—he evokes both contemplative stillness and uncanny presence, inviting viewers to experience history anew. Alijani’s practice is deeply reflective: his meditative compositions reconstruct personal and cultural memories, positioning still-life as a tool for questioning modern identity and the flow between past and present. ...
Dastan features an extensive and multi-dimensional program focusing on the full spectrum of Iranian contemporary and modern art. Dastan's program includes Dastan's Basement, +2, ParallelCircuit, Zaal Art Gallery, and Dastan:Outside. In addition to hosting exhibitions, Dastan publishes artist books and monographs on Iranian art, features film screenings, performance projects, and other events. Dastan's original space, Dastan’s Basement, was established in 2012 in Tehran, Iran. The Basement is dedicated to exhibiting emerging and cutting-edge Iranian art. +2 is a gallery launched by Dastan in 2015. This space showcases established Iranian artists and masters. Parallel Circuit aims to open the way for artists standing at the interstices of based and experimental art. Zaal Art Gallery is an international gallery in Ontario, Canada. The gallery provides an engaging and immersive space for both enthusiasts and professionals. Since opening its primary space in 2012, Dastan has continuously hosted pop-up curated exhibitions around the city of Tehran under the title Dastan:Outside. ...
