Painting at nights usually tends to focus on the deep space, the galaxy, and of course meteors. Not when it comes to the paintings by Marjan Shokri. It could at the same time include the very same subjects, though. The freedom to choose colors is some kind of meditation. It helps to distance yourself from the materialistic world that exists today and travel to the distant lands.
Her ideology in this world could be summarized here: Mad God Practice. It’s a new collection of paintings by Shokri that is in view at the 4 Gallery.
On why it took her five years to organize a new exhibition:
I had a solo exhibition in 2014. Because of certain issues I lost the will to work. It took a lot of time to organize a new exhibition. I wanted it to be different, before rushing things. Besides, I don’t paint for the sake of painting. It’s a spiritual journey for me, some kind of mediation. That’s why I’m so meticulous and careful when I want to hold a new exhibition. Of course, it takes me days and months to paint a new subject. That’s why after five years only six paintings are on display at this year’s exhibition.
On distancing herself from surrealism:
Art critic Ahmadreza Dalvand said back in 2010 in a review of my works in the Tehran Emrooz newspaper that Marjan Shokri’s paintings are neither realistic pictures nor geometric forms. I have made great changes to my works over the years. That’s why Dalvand says it’s so hard to put them in a specific category. This is no longer the age of styles and isms. It only limits us when we try to limit styles in order to understand the contemporary art. It also creates little enthusiasm. We just don’t appreciate them. I do agree that I have distanced myself from surrealism. However, my works are still not abstract. I always try to add energy to the colors, which is not what abstract painting all about.
On the tendency to ignore audience:
It’s a joke to ignore your audience. Even those who want art for the sake of art want to know what people think about their works. Energy has a profound impact on you in the surrounding environment. I forget where I am painting. I think of nothing else. Then again, when in the exhibition, I want to know who is gazing at my paintings. It takes an instant, an inspiration, for an artist to start painting a new subject. I get carried away the moment I start painting. This kind of inspiration translates itself into the canvas.