"Right About Here": Dastan x Guest House

Dastan presents “Right About Here”, a group exhibition concurrent with Frieze Los Angeles 2024 at Kour Pour Guest House opening on the 27th of February, 2024. The show features the works of Arash Hanaei, Alborz Kazemi, Newsha Tavakolian, Sina Shiri, Maryam Takhtkeshian, and Mehran Mohajer. “Right About Here” explores the dense megapolis of Tehran through the lens of six photographers with unique expressions and styles, looking at the city through their narratives and imagery. 

Following his works that depicted murals and billboards in Tehran, Arash Hanaei’s practice moved towards a timeless and placeless state. In his more recent works, he combines a plethora of elements to present a certain socio-cultural aura, neither a dystopia nor a utopia. 

The photographs in Mehran Mohajer’s “Tehran Undated” (2009) series were taken with a pinhole camera. They depict an image of the streets of Tehran. Almost half of the image is dominated by a wall, referencing his practice of reverting to them and sheltering.

Alborz Kazemi is presented with his series “Comradeship” (2009-2015), in which he pictures Tehran’s inner layers. The photographs depict intimate parties, nightlife, and an insightful glimpse into the life of the city’s younger generations. 

Sina Shiri has crafted a unique style of street photography that intertwines Tehran’s urban setting with its people and their stories. His wide portraits, often taken using medium-format analog photography, create immersive insights into the lives of Tehran’s citizens. 

Maryam Takhtkeshian’s photographs in her “Pandora” (2020) series depict the ubiquitous electric switch boxes that are part of the urban scenery of the streets of Tehran. Having been established as a symbolic stage for dissidence, Takhtkeshian’s photography portrays them as lonely and forgotten. 

In Newsha Tavakolian’s work, “Iran, Freedom Sq.” (2015), Tehran’s most iconic landmark, Azadi [Freedom] Tower rises through vividly colored scattered balloons forming a configuration that appears like a rainbow.

Sina Shiri (b. 1991) is a photographer whose work often falls into the field of street and urban photography. His portrayal of his subjects is usually at a moment considered a turning point in their day. This particular piece, “Untitled”: (2018), is part of his “Remains of the Day” series, first exhibited at Dastan’s Basement in June 2022. “Remains of the Day” examines the relationship between the city and its people, and the artist usually uses additional props to augment his themes and subject, moving away from mere documentary photography.

Arash Hanaei (b. 1978, Tehran, Iran) is a visual artist who lives and works in Paris, France. He holds a BA in Photography from Azad University of Art (2002). Following a series of photography exhibitions, Hanaei's practice uses other media to deliver a message, set up a stage, or highlight issues he finds important.

Arash Hanaei uses visual arts outfits to address his socio-political concerns. His different series is a commentary on a kaleidoscope of issues: terrorism vs. the war on terror, dislocation and belonging, urban vs. suburban spaces, the impact of the digital age on social interaction, the influence of market systems and commercial culture, and since his move to France in 2015, conditions "influenced by emergency states, transitory situations, and destinies." In "Capital" (2008-2015), he simplifies photographic scenes in the city of Tehran into a "readable" text. In "Cyclothymia of a Land" (2015-2017), urbanity is eclipsed by a more urgent question: “Can we still grasp the city as a permanent place of residence, and what are the instabilities of this description?" In "Pop-up Clouds" (2019), a series of mixed media installations with audio, video, and digital prints, the visitor is transported into a psycho-geographic setting akin to pop-up windows on a computer screen.