With a sort of stubbornness the father refused to take off his servant's
uniform even at home, and while his sleeping gown hung unused on the
coat hook, the father dozed completely dressed in his place, as if he
was always ready for his responsibility and even here was waiting for
the voice of his superior. As a result, in spite of all the care of the
mother and sister, his uniform, which even at the start was not new,
grew dirty....
Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka
Subverting the subverted
The works of Jahed Sarboland are a direct reference to the quality
of subversion emerging in all ideologies.
Ideology does not reflect actual relations. The darkroom of ideology is
a reflection of the bewitched world distancing man from reality.
Knowledge stands aside and an illusion based on an illusion
substitutes it.
Stuck in everyday routines, ideology is the exemplary form of all
ideologies and is a molding that forms the subversion of values. The
idea of ideology regulating itself has its roots in delusions the
origins and formation of which are forgotten in our time. Oblivion
serves as an observer in establishing mental order and calamity,
guaranteeing and preserving stability.
In Jahed Sarboland’s paintings the viewer is confronted with an artist
who, through seeing the reality, tries to distance himself from optimist
delusion concerning the faith of men and surrender not to oblivion. He
shows us how some men, in fact, fall prey to the judgments of other men
who believe to have the right to judge. Through their faith and belief
in their own right they extent the domain of wrong to all others. In
such conditions, one can understand how the value of man is ignored in
sustaining the value of a system. The works of the artist reveals the
subversion of values and insists on the fact that art does not reflect
reality like a mirror. He tries to exhibit the metamorphosed face of
people around him. Caught
in their delirious world, some of these are praying, others are advising
others or reciting and dictating things to others with a self-righteous
gesture and fixed gaze without any sign of awareness or agony.
With a correct understanding of plastic possibilities, through use of
transparent colours with little variety and avoidance of margins or
decorations, the artist has found the shortest path to transmitting his
idea.
Nosratollah Moslemian