O Gallery presents an exhibition of recent works by Omid Bazmandegan (b. 1976 Shiraz). The works on display consist of 14 oil paintings, depicting landscapes and cityscapes, particularly the suburbs, painted with precision and details.
In this collection, Bazmandegan assumes the role of an observer, deliberately distancing himself from a hustling city to interpret and express parts of the consequences of contemporary living. The distance threshold is neither so close for the works to be categorized as cityscapes, nor is it so far for it to be considered landscapes. From this vantage point, the city fades softly into fine dust, while the outskirts’ details become more apparent; recognized through dust, rocks, fragile plants and slender trees, all alongside the permanent residents of this environment: the stray dogs. Those, who from the beginning of the formation of modern cities have made the suburbs their home, neither have the desire to enter the city nor a reason to move farther away. It’s as if a common note pulses behind their eyes, something not easily comprehensible to humans but rather felt. That shared sentiment, a universal pain for all inhabitants of large cities, remains inexpressible. As expressed by Sadegh Hedayat[1], “eyes filled with pain and agony, only to be seen in the snout of a wandering dog.”

[1] Sadegh Hedayat was a renowned writer and translator.  He was one of the earliest Iranian writers to adopt literary modernism in their career.