Fatemeh Khodabandeh
OutsiderInn Gallery, Valiasr St.-Valiasr Square Farokhi St. n.11, Teheran, Iran
Curated by di Morteza Zahedi
July 30 – August 15 2021
Info: morteza.zaahedi@gmail.com
A multitude of characters from the artist’s everyday life populate the walls of the OutsiderInn Gallery in Tehran on the occasion of Fatemeh Khodabandeh’s works exhibition. Made from a core of hard materials and recycled fabrics, often procured from acquaintances and friends, her dolls give us back a variegated, colorful and alternative humanity; small works that do not fall under any artistic or stylistic codification but which respond exclusively to the creativity, intuition, emotional character and creative process of the author.
Fatemeh Khodabandeh was born in 1943 in Latian, south of Lavasan. As a child she enjoyed making dolls made from pieces of fabric and stones. A practice that after a very long hiatus, she restarted cultivating about two years ago due to inflammation in the hand joints for which the doctor had prescribed physical exercise and physiotherapy. Going back to work on her dolls, however, she discovered that this practice relieved pain and in continuity proved to be curative. The need therefore led her to rediscover a talent and a technical and creative ability that had remained dormant for a long time.
The one hosted at the OusiderInn Gallery is the first personal exhibition of her works which, in line with the research that the gallery has been promoting for a decade, fall within what is defined as Art Brut, works created by non-professionals who do not meet aesthetic standards and conventional artistic paths. The curator, Morteza Zahedi is an expert, collector and writer of texts on this area of contemporary art (his new volume “Iranian Art Brut. Outsider art from Persia” is out and premiered in Paris in October).
