Going Beyond the Hypothetical and Imperious Limits / Amir Soghrati

Afsaneh Akhoondi is mostly known for her drawings and paintings of Iranian women. Her paintings sometimes seem surrealistic and occasionally expressive. In her solo exhibitions in Golestan and Mehrva Galleries and also a group exhibition in Etemad Gallery, she only drew and painted women, but in her solo exhibition of Dena Gallery (2016-17) the pictures of men were added to this field as well. In her drawings, line is expressive and takes the expressive role of the work. Here although the interrupted lines and disorderly hatchings spoil and distort the coherence of the whole leading to disturbing, worrisome images, they create a narrative in which anger and anxiety are the formative elements. Women with distorted, exaggerated and awkward faces confined in closed frames accompanying a feeling of strangulation and terror form the main idea of Akhoondi's work. In her works, women are either irritated and distressed or horrified and shocked. They are sometimes in defensive manner and sometimes aggressive. Such a conflict could be seen among her characters, whether those who are veiled or the ones unveiled. Taking a critical approach towards women, Akhoondi actually shows them in different situations in Mehrva and Golestan Galleries. Such situations seem satirical and exaggerated. In her showing of veiled women (those with hijab), their clothes and covering remind us of social presence and appearance; however the artist does not make any backgrounds or narratives. Such characters are the women confined in ideological attitudes and an irritating, imperious atmosphere.
In a review of her works in recent years, the artist's women has always been exhibited with a feeling of insecurity, whether in social environment or at home. It seems as if something outside the frame motivates the character. What is this external factor? What is that thing Akhoondi conceals from the viewer? She makes drawings of woman in a territory, a one not been revered properly. It seem as though woman just feels secure in one territory or frame, otherwise she would be disrespected. This territory or limit is in fact the frame of drawings that woman is struggling to venerate which! Due to the kind of coverings and the exaggerated behaviors, we can attribute woman in such works to a definite origin and position. We can also consider a message for the characters' anger and anxiety in the mind. The act of finding an idea and a social message for the image removes the need to know the reasons for that external factor.  
Although Akhoondi draws men in her last show, she has done another thing in her paintings, making auto-portraits. There is a distance between the angry women with ideological approaches to drawing self-portraits in her work. In navigating this course, the painter has got from the "other" to herself. Now the empty space of the background is filled. Organs are bare, with no covering or veil. It seems that painting is still a territory for Akhoondi in which she can narrate the experience of living. But this time, without being afraid of hypothetical and stereotyped imperious frames (limits), she makes a picture of herself and speaks of her the experiences, terror and happiness. In this condition she does not intend to direct her critical attitude towards the "other", society or other women