Mohammad Barrangi

The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds

1 May – 20 July 2024

Review by Sana Nassari

One Night, One Dream, Life in the Lighthouse curated by Dr. Laura Claveria, is a major new commission by Leeds-based artist Mohammad Barrangi. This poignant exploration of home, childhood, migration, and disability is a testament to Barrangi’s personal experiences and artistic prowess. Born in Rasht, Iran, in 1988, Barrangi has garnered significant acclaim since his arrival in the UK in 2017. Known for his masterful printmaking, his works have featured in murals in Leeds, solo exhibitions in the UK and US and live installations at Tate Modern and the British Museum.

Upon arrival at the gallery, visitors are immediately drawn in by a gigantic minbar, a staircase-form pulpit, with a half-open additional door and a depiction of a crowned owl, whose enchantment may make visitors overlook the pieces hung on the hallway wall. This setting, which is located at the centre of the space, invites viewers to engage with the story of the imaginary protagonist of this immersive exhibition: Lily, a young Iranian girl who, after a tough journey, arrives on the English coast. This narrative deeply resonates with Barrangi’s own experiences of migration. The mesmerising song ‘Darya tūfān dare’ (The Sea is Stormy) is played repeatedly, setting a dramatic and evocative tone for the exhibition and successfully bringing a dreamlike universe into reality.

A standout piece in the exhibition is a mural covering almost an entire gallery wall, depicting the most turbulent part of Lily’s journey with Lily, a stormy sea, a lighthouse, and angelic figures above, all rendered in lines resembling Iranian calligraphy. Barrangi’s use of ink and traditional Iranian calligraphy with a reed pen, followed by typographic enlargement, allows him to delve into themes of migration and navigation in this black-and-white piece. 

A stormy night finds Lily taking refuge in a lighthouse, reminiscent of her city’s minaret. The large minbar-lighthouse structure, encountered upon arrival, is fully illustrated with rich colours, vegetal and animal figure ornaments, with a pyramid shape representing the lighthouse  on the top. The detailed illustrations create a sub-narrative of their own, showcasing Barrangi’s hybrid technique – a fusion of structural mixing (minbar-lighthouse) and phenomenal synergy. Lily dreams of a unicorn-zebra, a fantastical 3D sculpture placed in the hollow area beneath the minbar in a white and blue ball pool, illustrating Barrangi’s seamless blend of reality and fantasy. Barrangi’s background as a book illustrator is evident as he transforms into a storyteller through drawing, printmaking, and sculpture.

Lily is kept safe on her journey from Anzali port in northern Iran to southern England by a talismanic dress sewn by her mother. This dress is depicted in two heavily ornamented, monoprint paper dresses, framed and hanging prominently on the wall. These robes, inspired by the 12th-century romantic epic Haft Peykar by Nizami Ganjavi, are symbolically significant, echoing Islamic talismanic battlefield attire and representing protection against adversity.

Barrangi’s work is richly infused with cultural resonance, drawing inspiration from classical Iranian literature and Persian mythology. His colour palette, inspired by Iranian visual culture, features an apple red wall reminiscent of Iranian carpets, a saffron yellow wall, and diptychs in Iranian tile blue, enhancing the exhibition’s rich cultural tapestry.

Born with one underdeveloped arm, Barrangi aims to invite viewers to see his own life through his works in which he represents disabled persons, as he asserts in multiple interviews. He creates powerful, aesthetically beautiful characters who defy conventional norms. His characters are often hybrids: unicorn-zebras, minbar-lighthouses, pegasuses with human heads, bird-humans, and deer-women. These multifaceted figures suggest the complexity of a migrant’s journey and identity, refusing simplistic definitions. The complexity of Barrangi’s themes is reflected in his intricate structures and dramatic motifs.

The exhibition also includes a collaborative digital artwork by refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants living in Leeds, created in response to Barrangi’s work, as part of the Gallery’s ‘Welcoming Migrants’ initiative in collaboration with The Highrise Project.

https://library.leeds.ac.uk/events/event/1900/galleries/705/mohammad-barrangi-one-night-one-dream-life-in-the-lighthouse

Sana Nassari

Sana Nassari is a British-Iranian poet, writer, translator and art historian.