Beautiful Death 

Artists: Elmira Asl, Farzaneh Afshari, Farahnaz Khademi, Mina Mallahnezhad, Pardis Ahmadpour, Parto Ahmadpour, Saba Mameghani, Sama Rahmani, Setare Taji, Zahra Parkah
Curator: Tima Jam

“Beautiful Death” is a selection featuring works of 10 Iranian artists including drawings, paintings and photomontage. They express their fears, desire upon their reflection on the real world while presenting the transformations in past and present in order to consider the future. They examine the reality to find out their real pain and desire. The title “Waiting for a Beautiful Death” may seem dark, but it is just our everyday sweet reality.

My face turned pale before the cold eyes of death
My body was frozen by the stare from the dark
I don’t want to think of anything,
but there’s storm of thoughts in my head
I wasn’t prepared for this, ’cause I’m not ready to die

For a Spartan male, the only way to gain a tombstone was to die in battle for the state. For a woman it was death in childbirth. All warriors lived for a beautiful death to give their lives in service of an ideal. The base elements of passion are pain and desire. Pain will make you change and Desire will make you reach beyond where you are and who you are. Passion is the matter / antimatter warp drive that gives you the intellectual light and the unwavering character strength to bend reality to your will. Spartan grew up and learned very little of individuality. But still everyday in pain and his desire is having a beautiful death.