REZA BAHARVAND (B.1976) Yellow Alert, No.1

Mixed media and glitter on canvas 144 x 144 cm (56 3/4 x 56 3/4 in.) Executed in 2014 Iranian contemporary artist born in Khoramabad, member of the Iranian Painters Society and lecturer at the University of Science & Culture and University of Tehran Art. He has had a few solo shows in different galleries like the Mah Art, Silk Road and Aria Galleries in Tehran, and participated to many art fairs in the United States, Singapore and Lebanon which built him a name. Throughout his own abstract style, he showcases the war theme and affirms: ‘Every day, many people around the world see a lot of pictures and videos of war on TV or other media. Many people prefer to avoid that and a large number of them, who may be impressed by these images and even sympathize with the victims at the moment, usually forget what they have seen just after a few minutes. The fact is that the news channels have strongly reduced the enormity of war images by broadcasting them constantly. Which has created an indifference ambiance for the audience. I am trying to draw people’s attention to this issue.’ (ZH Magazine, October 9t, 2018) To emphasize this concept, Reza Baharvand started painting series mixing weapons and colorful butterflies wings, insisting on this idea that war related illustrations sometimes take a different twist in our everyday lives: unfortunately, we become accustomed to them and have no other choice to assemble them with daily beauty.