Freedom is Boring, Censorship is Fun

Farhad Moshiri, Shukran, Installation detail.

 I was recently invited to Farhad Moshiri's show in Dubai that I would have 
loved to have attended aptly named, "Freedom is Boring, Censorship is Fun". Farhad is exploding in the art world right now,and Tehran's art scene is bursting with talent. 
Exploring Tehran's art scene is high on my to do list...
Do you think censorship makes a person more creative? 
Just like a challenge might make people work a little harder for something,
 I wonder if censorship, as much of a nightmare as it is, if it can motivate people/artists to work harder to figure out a way to express themselves?

I feel like it would challenge me in ways I have never known. 

Farhad Moshiri has since been constantly pushing his materials, using cake icing dispensers, Swarovski crystals, and knives to make paintings that incorporate 
increasingly textured and sculptural approaches. 

But it is not Moshiri’s technique that has earned him attention, 

it is his mastery of Iranian visual vernacular, as well as his acute awareness of popular culture and art history.

Whether it is an all-black canvas covered with thousands of sparkling Swarovski crystal diamonds that spell out Eshgh, “love” in Farsi,or a wall installation of found knives arranged in cursive script to read “Life is Beautiful",beneath these banal clichés Moshiri’s work reflects a sardonic desire to preserve ancient traditions on the one hand, while also yearning for something new. More often than not, this longing is for a bright shining fantasy that stands for everything that society attempts to suppress.

Farhad Moshiri lives in Tehran, Iran. 

He studied art and filmmaking at the California Institute of the Arts.

See more of his work- Here

Images Via- Here