Orkideh Torabi

Orkideh Torabi makes paintings that lampoon Iran’s patriarchal society, depicting Iranian men as absurd clown-like figures, drawing attention to the personal, political and social issues facing Iranian women. Her caricatures of male Iranian archetypes are made by painting on a silkscreen with fabric dye, then transferring the image onto the canvas using a squeegee, like a monoprint. This technique generates lurid, vividly saturated surfaces, relying on chance and imperfections. She mocks the complex and fragile masculinity of the Iranian society in which women appear completely absent. By portraying them with cartoonish whimsy, she strips the male oppressors of their power by undermining the culture of machismo that pervades Iranian society. Torabi says, “In demasculinizing them, and through repetition and displacement, I allow myself, as a female, to possess their power.” 



Torabi’s work has been shown in Chicago, Austria, and Tehran, including Mana Contemporary Art, Chicago, Shirin Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran, Aria Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran, and The Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, Austria. Her first solo show in the United States was in the summer of 2016 at Western Exhibitions, and reviewed in New City. 

Courtesy of Western Exhibitions