Both graffiti and street art have a playful and creative approach to the cityscape. This type of art communicates with its audience through a peculiar aesthetic and humor, appropriating the urban space—even for a few hours. The street/graffiti artists are not confined in a limited area such as a wall, a building, a gallery, or even a long street such as Tehran’s Valiasr. They want, rather, to use the city as a context for their art, adding a playful and creative flavor to the way we experience urban spaces. These artists utilize familiar symbols to make their artworks. The significant challenge for them is to be in the right place at the right time to identify and criticize society’s current issues in order to recognize, reproduce, and redefine icons.

It is the second time that Black Hand is making Mohsen Gallery’s entrance courtyard “Hayat” the backdrop for its art: this is where the artwork is defined in continuation of the urban space. This time around, the icon is borrowed from a symbol known to everyone familiar with the internet. While offline, a playful dinosaur appears on our browsers. We can play with it and make it bounce while there is no access to the internet. Black Hand has made use of this icon to create its new work, a colossal dinosaur that the viewers can either continue to play their offline games with, or approach like a child; enter the colorful dinosaur, and slide back to the courtyard’s space. Just like when we were kids and used to slide from inside giant iron statues. This artwork is a tribute to the citizens and children who live in the city and are surrounded by rough and rigid buildings, where there is no space left for playfulness.