Echo of Found Objects
(A Note on Mostafa Darebaghi’s Recent Works)

Mostafa Darebaghi’s recent works consist of objects and images fixed on white backgrounds. 3D objects are summoned to 2D surfaces so be seen as ‘tableaus’. Darehbaghi’s choice of ‘object’ is aesthetical and most of the time accidental. These ‘found objects’ are comprised of card-sized insects, numbers, shovels, etc. Darebaghi refers to nature and city and in general, to dust.
Such collages of found objects can be traced in the works of Pablo Picasso to Joseph Cornell and later on, in the works of pop artists. One can say that Mostafa Darebaghi’s arrangement of objects is close to pop artists while his selective and emotional approach is closer to surrealist artists such as Cornell. This is while he also tries to somehow allude to the public realm and the city and change the function of objects, letters and numbers. For instance, the number five (written in Arabic numerals) is turned upside down and appears as a heart. Or martial spades resemble a row of soldiers while the yellow and black of a meter connect them with the other parts of the work; the black and yellow are signs of danger, alert and depression. Meter refers to depth, the depth of ground that is to be dug by shovels. Tehran city map is printed on a cushion and numbers refer to the districts: there is a reference to the relation between the private and public space. This is while Darehbaghi’s works are interpretable and resist singular readings. They are varied: a translation of the current moment with all its diversity and complexity yet Darehbaghi tries to sort and exhibit them on a clean surface with the hope that their echo is intensified.

Behnam Kamrani
Translated by Bavand Behpoor