With the abstracted figure as a universal subject matter,The Other Side of Visibility showcases artists Tala Madani, Daniel Gordon, Maryam Hosseini, Habib Farajabadi along with Behrag Samadzadegan at Mottahedan Projects in Dubai.

Focused on the aesthetic quandaries the role of subject and the functions of line, color and spatial depth in art, this exhibition approaches visual practice in a post-modern setting where Matisse and Lichtenstein prevail as artistic predecessors.

Inspired by images culled from the pages of comic books and horror-comedy films popular in the 70s-90s, Maryam Hoseini presents us with embellished commonplace scenarios visualized with the intensity and self-assurance of the new generation of artists. She paints a world of dreams, desires and mystery. Growing up in a house with a wild garden that both fascinated and haunted her as a child, the work takes us through vivid memories of a bright, attractive world that is at once full of dreadful nights and haunting whispers. Hoseini is fascinated by mythology; her particular obsession with the tales of, “The One Thousand and One Nights” determines her penchant for richly illustrated, fantastical narratives. She invents her own wordless stories of mythological construct where her depictions strike a disturbing balance between the humorous and the grotesque while being tinged with a familiarity that hints at the source of their inspiration.

Habib Farajabadi’s canvases are turned over and heavily stitched together in an uncanny resemblance to a “barrier”, after which the artist proceeds to paint on the reverse side of these gesso free surfaces. His cascading drips of paint penetrate through his raw canvases, seeping through to the other side. The vibrant and vivacious colors gush through the permeable skin-like barrier of the canvas bringing the paintings to life, whereas in contrast, the skin on us acts as a barrier to hold life within. The work is rich in a lyricism punctuated by cryptic “blank” spaces, and in so doing, liberating the viewer in its own, poetic manner- precisely the qualities that German philosopher Theodor W. Adorno discerned in Beethoven’s final works, in which “still” is liberated; as never before.

Daniel Gordon creates a rare fusion between the real and the constructed where their differences are almost impossible to resolve; examined closely, the most straightforward elements are revealed as clever fictions, both shrewd and entertaining. With elaborately collaged still-lives of material sourced from the Internet and reconstructed in 3-D, the Brooklyn-based photographer makes dazzling yet disorienting photographs on patterned backdrops in the Matisse mode.

Tala Madani’s paintings are cartoonish, irreverent, provocative, surreal, disturbing, bizarre, and after careful viewing, thought provoking. Making men her exclusive subject, she connects the political with the personal to focus on issues of sexual identity. Her work reflects on masculinity, group dynamics, sexuality and power play, exploring these with humor as well as cartoon violence. She deconstructs gender relations, making male behavior and violence her main subjects. She turns the often-subliminal perception of the male point of view as gender-neutral, against itself, revealing the inadequacies in human, and stereotypically male relations. Her work stages a feminist critique of our patriarchal society.

Observing time and history through his art, Behrag Samadzadegan uses an abstract, if mechanical process to punch holes in the representation of social reality. His use of dots are reminiscent of holes that undermine the image they form, suggestive of mass deception. Centered around a computer-generated dot-map illustration of a man’s body, shown clearly, accurately and sharply delineated against an ambiguous and indistinct background of seemingly accidental pouring, of paint over a honeycomb grid, the painting is an exercise in contrasting patterns of representation. Samadzadegan’s art teases the systems and hierarchies that permeate within the realms of society that all vie for power. He creates his work in response to a subjection to these systems. With a satirical, coquettish approach to his work to make reality endurable, he simultaneously depicts hope, regret, optimism and despair. His work alters reality to make it desirable, reflecting upon the structure of our time, the structure of social and political order, of power and culture.