Fok-Art, a Group Exhibition

October 3rd – 17th 2025

Artists: Hossein Bita, Kimia Estaki, Farino Atlasi, Sepideh Honarmand, Amir Mohammadzadeh, Fahimeh Eslamkish

Statement

Fok-Art; from comics to Pop Art

Fok-Art is a made-up term — and yet, in the simplest sense, it can be understood as a blend of Fokahi¹ (comics) and Pop Art².

FokArt may be seen as a long-term project with a wide range of subjects, which this time focuses on comic press publications from the tumultuous years of the Constitutional Revolution. The project is organized by rischee29 Gallery in collaboration with Kaarestan House and Didar Gallery.

There’s little need for lengthy commentary on the genre of humor and its subcategories, for the geography we inhabit — through the exceptional circumstances it has endured — has always struggled to endure and be heard through the mediating power of humor, seeking to preserve its vitality and creativity.

Mikhail Bakhtin writes: “Laughter does not block the path of man; it liberates him…” and elsewhere: “Laughter exists only to unite; it cannot divide.” (Bakhtin, 2020: 126–127)³. Indeed, this unifying quality is a unique human trait — the ability to laugh, shared by all despite our differences.

Countless comic publications (especially after the Constitutional Revolution) voiced the cries of freedom through humorous language, rallying masses of readers toward change — a fact worth reflecting upon. These were tragic laughs, born from encounters with chaotic and unjust realities that demanded transformation.

Our understanding of the comical dimension and its history is made clear through the existing archives. Yet, we must remember that this humorous and critical expression was not confined to writing and literature; its visual form was also strongly present — particularly in the illustrated press of the Constitutional era, whose influence on Iranian society remains tangible today. One can still hear the resonant voices of those freedom-seekers who sought to break free from the yoke of despotism — and paid the price.

Now, a century after the Constitutional Revolution and its humorous struggles against Qajar tyranny, one might ask: Can this mode of expression find a link with artistic creation under the banner of Pop Art — the art of the people?

The reason behind this question perhaps lies in the broad audience both forms share — their popular, accessible quality. A quality that opens up vast possibilities, including the creation of unique works whose concerns are shaped through the lens of our historical experience.

It should be noted that this approach is being put to the test — meaning that we are collectively experimenting with a new way of understanding and reconfiguring the archive. This process, inevitably, will reveal both strengths and weaknesses — insights that can guide us forward.

¹ Fokahi (comic): writings or sayings intended to make others laugh.
² Pop Art: an art movement of the 1960s, whose theoretical groundwork had been laid earlier by the Independent Group in London. They emphasized the urban popular culture of the masses and proposed a kind of public or popular aesthetics in art. (See: Rouin Pakbaz, Encyclopedia of Art, Tehran: Farhang-e Moaser, 2002).
³ Bakhtin, Mikhail. The Desire for Dialogue, Laughter, Freedom. Translated by Mohammad Jafar Puyandeh, Tehran: Charkh Publishing, 2020.