The death of the author and the birth of the reader was one of the most famous cultural declarations of the twentieth century. The title of a 1967 essay by the French theorist Roland Barthes, the concept suggested a shift away from the authority of the writer, artist, or expert — and toward the multiple interpretations of an engaged audience, each contributing to the work’s meaning.
The brothers Ramin and Rokni Haerizadeh, as well as their partner Hesam Rahmanian, contribute sculptures, installations, drawings, and performances to this multifaceted discussion.
Parthenogenesis, their first institutional retrospective, is titled after the phrase for a self-propagating plant, making an oblique reference to their famed working techniques.
The three have been living in Dubai for the past 13 years, not only living together but also doing art together. Each show must battle with how to translate this spontaneity into an art space’s huge white walls, where it is painted on, enhanced, and ornamented as the days pass.
They became recognized for the daring and provocative performances they conducted in their villa after they relocated together to Dubai in 2009, and their home/studio became regarded as an artwork in and of itself. Farah Al Qasimi photographed the space for ArtAsiaPacific in 2014 as part of an early commercial commission for the artist; Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi chronicled the performances.
Another well-known UAE artist, Lamya Gargash, is featured as a participant in the exhibition with 17 others. A new commission portrays the studio as it is today, in images made by another well-known UAE artist, Lamya Gargash.
