Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac is pleased to announce the first solo exhibition of recent work by Iranian artist Mahmoud Bakhshi.

Bakhshi's installations and sculptural works deal with the aesthetics of post-revolutionary Iran, composed of a distinctive combination of ideological Islam, industrial capitalism and the liberational iconography of the 1979 Revolution. His work represents a struggle between an art that is self-conscious of its independence and the propaganda of the state.

Recently Bakhshi has integrated everyday objects from Iran into his work, objects that have acquired a political character beyond their banal everyday character. Bahman cigarettes, for example, are a low quality commodity that is popular in artistic circles and amongst Iranian non-conformists.

Bahman is also the name of the eleventh month in the solar calendar - the month of the 1979 Revolution - and an iconic movie theatre located around the corner from Revolution Square in Tehran. However, unlike many contemporary political artists, Bakhshi does not simply attack the icons of contemporary Iran. "In most authoritarian societies, artists try to escape the controlling power, with an anti-establishment approach to their work," he says. "I, however, try to emulate artworks that are specifically produced for the government."