BEHNAM KAMRANI’S WORKS |
Touring Iran on Bank Notes is the title of Bahnam Kamrani’s latest works. They portray the images of large bank notes pertaining to the Pahlavi Dynasty, printed on canvas and complemented by paintings. Although the bank notes in the background belong to the Pahlavi days, they very seldom represent the political atmosphere of that era; rather, they tend to provoke the long-term memories of the Iranian people. Images of contemporary and historical landmarks, Golestan palace for example, which are mostly accompanied by a verse, indicate the historical characteristics of these landmarks.
While the images on the reverse of any bank note usually portray a single subject, Kamrani has added a new meaning to those images through his paintings. The common feature of all these bank notes is the absence of a human character in them. This absence has provided the artist with a background in which he can introduce his own characters: dwarves with bandanas or dressed in Qajar style attire in front of Golestan Palace, or Samothrace the Goddess of Nike (victory) seen mounted on a stack of suitcases. Painted in another background is Yves Klein’s fall, only this time throwing himself from the Alborz Heights instead of a window. The background to all these images is the Veresk Bridge, the icon of construction and progress in Iran for many decades, ironically built by German engineers! In another work we see Dervish Khan embracing his Tar and staring into the distance. His motionless hand is resting on the cords, while the mingling colours behind him have created a halo around his head. Again, the background is the shrine of Hafez.
Yet another work portrays images of half-burnt matchsticks, a man on a camel, and one of M.C Escher’s works providing an optical illusion. This time the Abadan refineries provide the background, complemented by the image of a handwritten oil treaty tucked into another background. These optical images, next to the name of the workThe Oil Outlook, convey a unified meaning. This meaning has been incorporated in all the works in the series.
Touring Iran on Bank Notes is an animated vision of our present era. Various landmarks, each reminiscent of a different time and place, are gathered together as if the context can provide an environment for their co-existence. But, as is apparent in the paintings, this has not been a successful venture. Kamrani, aware of this impossibility, has chosen the bank notes as a setting for his graphic stories. His chosen subject is one of the most degrading symbols of today’s materialistic society. In the artist’s own habitat, however, the bank note is losing its value very rapidly and every decade adds more to its demise.
| یرانگردی بر روی اسکناس |
نمایشگاه آثار بهنام کامرانی |
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