Through the looking-glass

For this work, hamed produced a series of abstract paintings installed in a space inside a space. This scenography disrupts what’s inside and out, as it forces the viewer and organizes a sequential gaze and multiple ways of seeing the artworks. Hamed Dehqan considers this dynamic perception as a fantasy animation where visitors follow a path inspired by Alice in wonderland, albeit in a modernist ‘miseen-abyme’ white cube. Similarly, his meta-theatrical performances play with cartoon animations references from the 1970s and 1980s associated with the two-dimensional spaces composed in abstract painting in the same period while bringing them into the contemporary context. These multiple references stemming from various cultural origins invite the audience to take part in his fantasy space.

— Sébastien Pluot