Venus; Where the Sun Rises in the West and Sets in the East.

Zahra Ghyasi

Zahra Ghyasi, who is from the same generation as Majid and Samira, has created a fantastical land to tolerate the present thorny reality. The hallucinatory architecture of her world is marked by fanciful frolicsomeness and erotic euphoria. Zahra’s work is always the outcome of the vicious circle of her wandering, dreaming mind that oscillates between reality and fantasy. She is searching for a balance that seems to be elusive. Unlike her earlier works that had references to the outside world and philosophy, the works of the recent period of her career are emphatically self-referential: self-portraits of a wanderer in a marvelous planet in her mind and a safe haven for a free, cheerful life in which it is possible for desires to be manifested and satisfied. In order to bear the turbulent outside reality, Zahra creates a world in which every desire gets a chance to blossom and bear fruit.

Zahra Ghyasi, “The Morning Resurrection”, from “Venus; Where the Sun Rises in the West and Sets in the East.” series, oil on canvas, 150 x 100 cm, 2021
Zahra Ghyasi, “The Evening Confession”, from “Venus; Where the Sun Rises in the West and Sets in the East.” series, oil on canvas, 150 x 220 cm, 2021
VOLTA Basel 2021, installation view
VOLTA Basel 2021, installation view
VOLTA Basel 2021, installation view