Sepideh Salehi's First Italian Solo Exhibition Explores Female Identity Through Collage and Memory

Iranian-born artist Sepideh Salehi, born in Tehran in 1972, is currently presenting her debut solo exhibition in Italy. Titled 'Assemblages,' the show is curated by Laila Abdul-Hadi Jadallah and hosted at Galleria Anna Marra in Rome. Salehi's works, which include pieces on paper from 2006 to 2025 such as 'Nero,' 'Transformation,' 'Azul,' 'Traces,' and 'Calligraphy of Refusal, Ascent,' delve into universal themes of female identity, drawing from her personal history and memories of childhood and youth in Iran. The artist has not returned to her home country since 2006, and this geographical and temporal distance informs her practice, allowing her to process and reinterpret memories of a suspended past. Her artistic approach incorporates collage, a technique she employs to synthesize diverse elements, reflecting her multifaceted identity as someone who has lived in Iran, Italy, and the United States. Salehi's practice also includes painting, drawing, photography, animation, and video. In her work, she often uses photographs she takes of people and landscapes sourced online, blending real and imagined recollections. Textual elements appear in series like 'Ski,' 'Party,' 'School,' and 'War and Peace,' where repeated Farsi words—such as her mother's name 'Soosan' or terms like 'revolution' and 'war'—serve as mnemonic devices rather than poetic expressions. These references are tied to her experiences, including the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war during her childhood. Salehi studied English Language and Translation at Azad University in Tehran in 1998 before moving to Italy in 1999 to attend the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence until 2005. She relocated to New York in 2008. Her artistic evolution shifted from abstract landscapes in Italy to a focus on the body and movement, often exploring themes of veiling and identity. She incorporates traditional Persian iconographic patterns, as seen in works like 'Mohr Portraits,' using objects like prayer stones for frottage to engage with cultural symbols without religious connotations. Her depictions of women, often faceless or turned away, express themes of silent rebellion and oppression, featuring Iranian friends living in the U.S. The exhibition highlights Salehi's nostalgic and layered exploration of memory, identity, and displacement through mixed-media assemblages.