SHARGHZADEGI: Anahita Razmi | Solo Exhibition

The concept for the work Anahita Razmi Promo refers to the work "Chris Burden Promo" by the American artist Chris Burden. The video clip “Chris Burden Promo” shown in 1976 on various American TV-channels is listing a selection of famous artist names written in bold graphics: “Leonardo, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Picasso...” – and then “Burden”. The listing was followed by the disclaimer “Paid for by Chris Burden – artist.”

Anahita Razmi Promo is restaging Burden’s work on a selection of Iranian Satellite TV channels. The names of the artists in the original clip are replaced with famous Iranian artists’ names. The name "Chris Burden" is replaced with the name "Anahita Razmi". By relocating the work in the Iranian TV context that is divided into official national TV and illegal satellite reception of “Exile” TV stations infiltrating the Republic's censored media structure, Burden's original concept is automatically undergoing a significant recontextualization, now dealing with issues of visibility and censorship in Iran and affiliations within hybrid global structures. Influences of diaspora and exile, which today play a significant role in the dialogue with Iran, are addressed and put into a critical-ironic relation to the artist’s own work.