“The party has ended, now you can sit in peace and take a cool glass of water.” This is what Elahe’s painting of chairs convey. In her works there is no trace of people, everybody has left and chairs have taken their places. The room’s atmosphere does not evoke sullenness, gloom or even nostalgia. Colours are mild and soothing. It seems, as though, time has stopped and nothing is supposed to happen. No one knows. Perhaps before the chairs grew tall, like fragile rambling plants and sat around the table in a kind of parody, the room was full of men and women with a dazzling glare of red and orange. But now all have gone, apparently never to return.
In Elahe’s works chair is a allegory of the contemporary human. Objectification has reached such proportions that a “thing”, an “object”, has replaced people and exactly like them it has become so fragile and unstable. Fragility and timidity is inspired by the thin, smooth and parallel lines of chairs.
The chair legs are tall and some appear to wobble as they endeavour to reach the table height. The table represents modern life to which contemporary man strives to gain access while it provides the only excuse to bring together lonely human beings. In one of her works, consisting of a set of four big connected pieces, the long rectangular table with a narrow width and high, fragile legs cut across the vertical lines of chairs, acting as a bridge which connects the chairs together.
Five centuries have elapsed since Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”. Jesus and his twelve apostles are sitting around the table. Not a lavish banquet, but whatever there is on the table, is evenly shared, Apostles are conversing, three windows, behind the table allow a view of the horizon. In “The Last Supper”, we witness all the facets of life: ranging from belief, sharing, conferring, peace, tranquility and hope to anxiety, fear, betrayal and death.
Now, after five centuries, no one has remained and chairs have replaced people. There is nothing on the table but few empty glasses. No windows either. No allusion to shelter in order to seek refuge. Nonetheless one thing is certain: you cannot sit on Elahe’s chairs. You can only look at them and contemplate.
Azadeh Tahaei