Iran’s most prolific street artist arrives in London
- Text by Alex King
- Photography by Mehdi Ghadyanloo
Over 100 walls in Iran’s capital Tehran are adorned with Mehdi Ghadyanloo’s striking, surrealist trompe l’oeil illusions.
His street paintings are often playful and upbeat, but when he paints on canvas he’s free to explore the darker corners of his psyche – and it’s these personal works that are on display at the artist’s first London show at the Howard Griffin Gallery.
“Growing up during the Iran-Iraq war had a strong effect on me,” Ghadyanloo told the Guardian. “As Freud said, our childhood shapes who we are. My father was a soldier. He was in the front line. My mother was always waiting for good news of my father. I think it’s one of the reasons I have fear in my work.”
Mehdi Ghadyanloo’s Perception is on display at Howard Griffin Gallery, Shoreditch until April 2.
You might like
In photos: The newsagents keeping print alive
Save the stands — With Huck 83 hitting shelves around the world, we met a few people who continue to stock print magazines, defying an enduringly tough climate for physical media and the high street.
Written by: Ella Glossop
The last days of St Agnes Place, London’s longest ever running squat
Off the grid — Photographer Janine Wiedel spent four years documenting the people of the Kennington squat, who for decades made a forgotten row of terraced houses a home.
Written by: Isaac Muk
How Japan revolutionised art & photography in the ’60s and ’70s
From Angura to Provoke — A new photobook chronicles the radical avant-garde scene of the postwar period, whose subversion of the medium of image making remains shocking and groundbreaking to this day.
Written by: Miss Rosen
In west London, Subbuteo is alive and flicking
London Subbuteo Club — The tabletop football game sees players imitate vintage teams with tactics and tiny painted replica kits. Ryan Loftus takes a trip to Fulham to meet a dedicated community and witness a titanic Brazil vs Coventry City showdown.
Written by: Ryan Loftus
The lacerating catharsis of body suspension in Hong Kong
Self-Ferrying — In one of the world’s most densely packed cities, an underground group of young people are piercing their skin and hanging their bodies with hooks in a shocking exploration of pain and pleasure. Sophie Liu goes to a session to understand why they partake in the extreme underground practice.
Written by: Sophie Liu
Activists hack London billboards to call out big tech harm
Tax Big Tech: With UK youth mental health services under strain, guerrilla billboards across the capital accuse social media companies of profiting from a growing crisis.
Written by: Ella Glossop
