Lot 115: - Khosrow Hassanzadeh , Iranian B. 1963 Terrorist: Khosrow (From the Terrorist Series) acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas

signed, dated 1383 ( A.P./A.D. 2004) and numbered 5-8 acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas

measurements note 250 by 205cm.; 98 3/8 by 80 3/4 in.

Executed in 2004, this work is number 5 from a series of 8 unique works.
One of the most uncompromising artists of the contemporary scene in Tehran, Khosrow Hassanzadeh is not afraid to confront his society with its own foible and the Western viewer with their prejudice. The Terrorist series, to which this work belongs, consists of large scale individual portraits of the artist, his mother and two sisters. He places his sitter within a strange, unreal landscape, adding symbolic objects to the composition that make little sense at first glance. The inspiration for this strange arrangement comes from real images of the Taliban as they photograph themselves. These photographs show the men of the Taliban posing with guns, plastic floral arrangements and cigarettes in front of posters depicting European suburban idylls reproduced in bright technicolour. Clearly the guns and cigarettes are symbols of power and manhood, the plastic flowers and suburban images however are references to afterlife, which, somewhat ironically, has come to be represented by the vibrant green of neatly clipped lawns and lush flower beds stuffed with gardenias. A pacifist at heart, Hassanzadeh tackles the nature of identity and its associated preconceptions in one fell swoop. He brashly highlights the simple desires of these Afghani men caught in violence; showing their humanity, their hopes and dreams. Simultaneously, he challenges the endemic vilification of his own culture by presenting himself with familial relationships - he clutches a photograph of his father, and his children float like angels in the background and secrets, represented by studded box of memories that rests in his lap, like any man of any nationality.