Improvisation | painting & installation | seyhoun art galleri

Wahed Khakdan's presence at Milad Zeynali's first exhibition at Seyhoun Gallery, June 2015

The galaxy that Milad Zeynali draws upon for the representation of his super-real, yet familiar and tangible objects and forms—creatures and landscapes—is a space brimming with mystery and enigma.
​Everything floating in this galaxy, suspended in mesmerizing zero gravity, is simultaneously strange and of a nature that we, as earthbound beings, know well. We are even capable of recognizing and naming them using our subconscious, assigning them various titles. Despite encountering this world, which is rife with colorful labyrinths that sometimes evoke a natural history book and at other times the world hereafter, we can, without tremendous effort, discover a path for an exploratory journey, traversing a course where the description of the accompanying events and adventures is possible only for ourselves. Any attempt to convey the astonishment resulting from this voyage and the confrontation with objects that, despite their biological origins, function like man-made constructs, while floating in the infinite, dream-like environment, would be a futile and vain endeavor.
​What makes this super-real and enigmatic world slightly more tangible and identifiable is its seamless blend and interlocking with its environment. Ultimately, this offers us pictograms that humanity has known for thousands of years. Such a seemingly accidental, yet unexpected, fusion delights the viewer on one hand and, and on the other, induces a delightful visual terror intertwined with a mental rush. The events unfolding in these images are, from a historical perspective, as certainly thought-provoking as the world governing them—with factors that cause mental turmoil. However, it must be acknowledged that these two very factors are precisely what lend an excessive fascination to these works; it is this specific duality that makes them worthy of contemplation and analysis.
​Zeynali is an artist who works for his own time. This synchronicity with the present moment ensures that he does not confine himself to the principles and methods of the classical Modern painters and sculptors of the last century. He strives, through every device, to create a space that, while inherently adhering to the rules and conventions prevalent in contemporary painting and art, still benefits from the achievements of his predecessors. This creative approach allows him to fearlessly present the visual language of his fantasies, through images and objects, using a vocabulary we have known since the last century—a language which, since its invention and the issuance of André Breton's manifesto in 1924, has traversed many ups and downs, sometimes being forgotten and sometimes returning with the same power of its nascent period. It should be noted that this major transformation, among all the artistic stances of the twentieth century, has perhaps exerted the most profound influence on contemporary art.
​This recourse to a dream-like world, also evident in Zeynali’s works, can undoubtedly be considered one of the most fundamental actions in his creative process. Beyond this utilization, which deliberately or subconsciously engages the viewer in a mental dialogue with their unconscious, Zeynali adds many other intellectual resources to his work. Some of these aspects fall outside the realm of art history, painting, and sculpture, leaning more towards psychological and sometimes even social dimensions. This is what lends a profoundly personal character to his work—a characteristic regarded as one of the most vital tools of artistic creativity.
​Zeynali does not hesitate even to employ graphic and architectural devices to bestow sublime quality upon his work. The result of this process can be seen in the shimmer of colors and the solidity of the compositions. Ultimately, however, the most critical dimension in Zeynali's work remains the indescribable sensation that his pieces transmit to the viewer through the blending and amalgamation of all these elements and factors.
​Wahed Khakdan
​June 2015

A view of Rhinoceros from the front, Rhinoceros in profile, and a mental/improvised work at Seyhoun Gallery 2

A view of the cow, the elephant, and the spinning spheres at Seyhoun Gallery 2

A view of the final abstract piece and the work Dog and Two Spheres at Seyhoun Gallery 2

Vahid Nasirian's presence at Milad Zeynali's first exhibition at Seyhoun Gallery

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.

Archival photographic captures, historic workshop documentation, and artistic references.