2014
“Spring’s beamed and the redbud’s bloomed.
At home, beneath the window,
the old jasmine’s blossomed.
Dispel the doubt!
Don’t get your claws
into ominous
death’s!
Being
is better than not being
in particular in spring.”
Nikzad Nojumi, a pioneering Iranian painter, along with Jinoos Taghizadeh, a multidiciplinary artist, are embracing the arrival of spring. For years, alongside their ongoing projects, they have been drawing flowers and plants—a creative way to connect with life.
Plutarch recounts from Antisthenes who says: “In a certain faraway land the cold is so intense that words freeze as soon as they are uttered, and after some time then thaw and become audible, so that words spoken in winter go unheard until the next summer.” This reminds us of the inevitable time that must pass in hopeful anticipation of the days to come.
Could these words, made by lines, colors, and floral designs, offer a means to endure the harsh times, whose dissonant rhythm accelerates with each passing moment?
The title of this joint exhibition is borrowed from Ahmad Shamlou’s poem “Death of Nazli,” where he considers spring the best excuse for being, staying, and enduring.
14-29 March
Sahar Bolouki Gallery
Translation of part of Ahmad Shamloo’s poem by Ali Asadollahi
Jinoos Taghizadeh 