Old photos from Veresk, a village in Savadkuh County in Mazandaran Province, have become a source of inspiration for the paintings of Asal Peyravi, which are on display at Dastan Art Gallery in Tehran.
Veresk is located in a mountainous area and enjoys perfect weather. The village is well known for its masonry arch bridge. Operational since 1937, Veresk is one of the largest railroad bridges from the Trans-Iranian railway, 110 meters above the bottom of the valley and built with rudimentary equipment and tools.
Named “Curtains”, the exhibit is showing seven paintings and collages, Honaronline reported on its Persian website.
The name of the show refers to the way the artworks are presented; they have no frames, and the canvas on the wall resemble the curtains used in naqqali (traditional storytelling) in which stories were narrated from the images drawn on a curtain.
Works of the exhibit are a follow up to Peyravi’s two previous shows, which were also based on a collection of old photos from the village of Veresk.
In her first collection of paintings, Peyravi depicted human figures in nature, mountains and roads, while in the second series she painted on concrete like deserted temples in between mountains.
Her current artworks are more personalized and have less resemblance with the old photos. The works are devoid of human figures but their presence can be felt through the concrete structures that look like temples surrounded by flowers.
The old photos had been taken by the artist’s late aunt.
Located at No. 6, Bidar Street, Fereshteh Street, the gallery will host the artworks through June 15.
