These heads are a pattern, an ornament of a society and its relations. Parastou Forouhar is using the grotesque here. The facial features of the portraits correspond to the structure of the classical grotesque, but the artist exaggerates the formal reality of the picture by exposing everything, every single element, as grotesque and shocking. Finally, the perception will alternate between the two levels of the image, between the individual scenes’ terrifying narrative and the grotesque portrait as a pattern and ornament of the system that can be repeated as often as desired. Werner Meyer

Series of 3 digital drawings, digital print on Turner paper, all 88 X 120 cm, 2014

New Works, Karin Sachs Gallery, Munich, 2015
Burdened Paper, Hinterland Gallery, Vienna, 2015
Portraits, Detail