“The abstract labor of art”

 Group Exhibition
Curator: Shirin Gharavisky
First Floor | 11 October until November 8 , 2024

Tobias Ertl, in an article titled «The Abstract Labor of Art,» presents ten theses on the logic of artistic labor and its distinction from labor in capitalism. He begins his article with a quote from Adorno, who says that artists essentially produce things “that they do not know what they are.” Based on Adorno, this type of labor is a utopian form; meaning that artistic work creates a relationship with the world that goes beyond any current understanding of it. Ertl compares this view with Marx’s perspective on labor and surplus value, noting that according to Marx, this type of work is considered “abstract labor.”

Adorno considers the absolute unawareness of the artist and the tension between the artistic work and production as a utopian form, and Ertl, in linking the ideas of Adorno and Marx, views artistic work as a form of rationality that becomes liberated and differs from the rational and unconscious system of work in capitalism, where the unawareness of its nature indicates a lack of freedom. Ertl states that if the artist can work within the dynamics of social productive forces without considering the goal of capital accumulation, their work embodies a utopian form.

The current exhibition, by bringing together works of Iranian artists from several different generations, attempts to focus on this aspect of artistic work, or as mentioned, “abstract labor.” Artistic labor, while connected to the nature and content of the work they have created, is distanced from it, and this distance, which provides an opportunity for a historical-social reading of them, is the subject of this exhibition.

Group Exhibition: Fereydoun Ave, Reza Abedini, Nasser Bakhshi, Omid Bonakdar, Leili Matin Daftari, Ardeshir Mohasses, Koorosh Shishegaran, Mojtaba Tabatabaie, Ramtin Zad, Bijan Saffari,…

Shirin Gharavisky

Ertl, Tobias. «The Abstract Labor of Art” in “No. 6 Duty Rules Work Wage”. 2024: For. Basel, Switzerland

Shirin Gharavisky (Tehran, Iran) is the founding director of Soo Contemporary. After finishing her university studies in Industrial Engineering and working on construction projects and project management in Iran, she moved to Toronto, Canada to pursue an artistic career and study art. There she studied at the Ontario College of Art & Design University (OCAD U) and obtained a BA degree in Fine Arts. In 2017, she returned to Tehran to establish an art gallery in the Iranian capital. As so, Soo Contemporary was founded in Tehran in 2017. 

Soo’s first venue, located in the north of Tehran, served as an interim space for two years while Shirin simultaneously managed a large renovation project at the current venue of Soo Contemporary in downtown Tehran. Under her direction, Soo showcases works and projects by some of the youngest generations of Iranian artists, fresh talents, cutting-edge media, and new genres, as well as promoting its spectrum of interest in more traditional media as well as emerging and more established artists. 

Soo Contemporary has become a space for artistic expression, having hosted more than 80 exhibitions that have brought together the talents of over 230 artists. In addition to her directorial role, Shirin has served as the curator for 10 exhibitions at Soo, promoting her perspective on contemporary art. 

Continuing these efforts, in 2020, her passion for art transcended conventional spaces as she founded Soo Community, an initiative that goes beyond the confines of a physical space. Soo Community has hosted 10 site-specific projects and events that focus on the underground currents in the Iranian art scene, connecting artists with a wider audience and making possible boundless artistic expressions. 

Establishment of Soo Contemporary Art Gallery

“Soo Contemporary” is a contemporary art gallery in Tehran, Iran. While mainly focusing on showcasing the youngest generations of Iranian artists, fresh talents, cutting-edge media and new genres, Soo also seeks to promote its spectrum of interest in more traditional media as well as emerging and more established artists.

With a multifaceted program that includes smaller-scale installations, site-specific projects, larger exhibitions, and multimedia and audiovisual events, Soo caters to the discerning audience base of Tehran’s vibrant art scene. Established in 2017 by director Shirin Gharavisky, after two years of working at an interim space in the northern neighborhoods of …
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