Don’t You Know You are in the Game  
Solo Exhibition of Fatemeh Bahman Siyahmard 
Opening on 31st October 2025  
On view until 14th November 2025  

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The paintings of Fatemeh Bahman Siyahmard move on the border between poetry and image,  
paintings that are neither representational nor merely abstract, but rather an arena of constant  
dialogue between the body, city, nature and the collective unconsciousness. She constructs her world  
not through linear narrative but by fragmentation and reassembly of signs, a world that is more like a  
dream than reality.  
For this set of works the seed of her narrative is the story of Omelas; a child’s imprisonment in a  
basement which allows for a city to live in happiness. Raising the questions: what is the price of  
collective happiness and well-being? What must be hidden or sacrificed in order for a world to remain  
seemingly peaceful. 
The complex and detailed compositions are a vital part of her visual experience. She uses diverse  
materials and visual language, from precise pencil and ink drawings to brilliant splashes of color and  
scratchy lines; all to create a world that refers to both past and future, pain and hope. This  
juxtaposition of time and elements and languages make her the polyphonic artist that she is.  
Over all the series refers to connectivity of all things and cycle of life. She neither offers the final  
answer nor completes the narrative, but rather engages the audience in a game in which they must  
pause repeatedly between beauty and suffering, between the city and nature, the body and the  
world, and ask again at what cost what we have was obtained?  
Aaran Projects 
Neauphle Le Chateau, Lolagar st. No 5. 
Tel +98 21 66702233 
Fridays between 4-8 pm. 
Mondays- Thursday 1-6 pm  
Instagram account: Aarangallerytehran

Announcements

Paintings 2023-2024

  • Unknown destination.oil on canvas 200×200cm2023

    To Live on Edges

    Living in a mega city like Tehran, by itself is an impossible act, a city that swallows soil, water, nature and identities. Thus leaving the citizens confounded and under constant pressure. There are moments where there are no answers to be found, no solutions to the problems and no possible future. It is no longer a place to live in, it is more a crossroad, where very often survival becomes the only task. The city is physically threatened by sink holes and more and more of its citizens are sinking below poverty lines.

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Paintings 2021-2022

  • Viruse.oil on canvas120×70×60cm2022

    To Live on Edges

    Living in a mega city like Tehran, by itself is an impossible act, a city that swallows soil, water, nature and identities. Thus leaving the citizens confounded and under constant pressure. There are moments where there are no answers to be found, no solutions to the problems and no possible future. It is no longer a place to live in, it is more a crossroad, where very often survival becomes the only task. The city is physically threatened by sink holes and more and more of its citizens are sinking below poverty lines.

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  • Like always. Oil on canvas 120×7060cm2022

    To Live on Edges

    Living in a mega city like Tehran, by itself is an impossible act, a city that swallows soil, water, nature and identities. Thus leaving the citizens confounded and under constant pressure. There are moments where there are no answers to be found, no solutions to the problems and no possible future. It is no longer a place to live in, it is more a crossroad, where very often survival becomes the only task. The city is physically threatened by sink holes and more and more of its citizens are sinking below poverty lines.

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  • District10 Zone6.oil on canvas220×120×60cm2021

    To Live on Edges

    Living in a mega city like Tehran, by itself is an impossible act, a city that swallows soil, water, nature and identities. Thus leaving the citizens confounded and under constant pressure. There are moments where there are no answers to be found, no solutions to the problems and no possible future. It is no longer a place to live in, it is more a crossroad, where very often survival becomes the only task. The city is physically threatened by sink holes and more and more of its citizens are sinking below poverty lines.

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  • Le Radeau de la Méduse 2020

    Amid scarcity, a flood of events, and the constant struggle with both internal and external forces sanctions, inflation, economic stagnation, environmental crises, and finally COVID-19 this series came into being.

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  • Mixed media on cardboard 240×70cm2022

    To Live on Edges

    Living in a mega city like Tehran, by itself is an impossible act, a city that swallows soil, water, nature and identities. Thus leaving the citizens confounded and under constant pressure. There are moments where there are no answers to be found, no solutions to the problems and no possible future. It is no longer a place to live in, it is more a crossroad, where very often survival becomes the only task. The city is physically threatened by sink holes and more and more of its citizens are sinking below poverty lines.

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  • Mashin.oil on canvas120×70×60cm2021

    To Live on Edges

    Living in a mega city like Tehran, by itself is an impossible act, a city that swallows soil, water, nature and identities. Thus leaving the citizens confounded and under constant pressure. There are moments where there are no answers to be found, no solutions to the problems and no possible future. It is no longer a place to live in, it is more a crossroad, where very often survival becomes the only task. The city is physically threatened by sink holes and more and more of its citizens are sinking below poverty lines.

    Read more

Paintings 2019-2020

Paintings 2017-2018

    Paintings 2015-2016