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DETAILS
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67” x 60”
Coffee stains, saffron, acrylic, and gouache on paper
Artist’s Collection, New York
Cat. na8
Unlike with the previous three works, in which Ahkami blew up a miniature, in Persian Battle Scene she in fact reverses the process; undoubtedly referencing Persian textiles (note traditional headdress on the riders), in this very raw-looking composition Ahkami again resorts to her hallmark instinctive game of espousing disparate motifs. Scattered across what looks like an extension of the margins of her previous works on paper, the large yellow beings refer both to figures from the videogame Space Invaders and to geometric patterns on a Persian rug Ahkami used to play on as a child, which would explain her choice to paint them in saffron (evoking ancient techniques of procuring dyes, as well as the time in which spice trade afforded the golden age of Islamic culture, before the naval, Eurocentric era). These figures, which are born out of a literally binary game, serve as background to a stylized, and equally binary—in both affect and form—battle scene. There are good guys and bad guys, clearly marked by color differentiation, and your decision who is who greatly depends on the specific glib fairytale you are willing to be fed. In the role of the Persians we have both legendary riders and pious veiled figures—a true revival of the great Safavid golden age. These noble riders abolish the evil icons of the West and correct the insolent women. In the role of the Americans we have friendly cartoons, who seek but peace, and who never meddle in foreign affairs to advance their narrow interests, and who are viciously, and unjustly attacked; clearly, what could be more brutal, more unjust than someone waving a sword at Bambi? —NT
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