ESBATI – BERST
The artist Farnood Esbati, born in Tehran in 1993, Asperger’s syndrome was diagnosed in childhood. Today, it’s understood that this characterization, instead of reducing the person to their neurodiversity, actually opens the door to a realm of otherness that remains to be fully explored. Thus, young Farnood, instead of speaking, began drawing and painting on walls. Furthermore, later on, his passion for reading and books, which he continues to avidly collect, greatly enriched his spectrum.
To the extent that it is now evident that his works, much like the literature he continually accumulates, are as refined as they are enigmatic transcriptions of his perception of the world. They serve not only to control the emotions that overwhelm him when he immerses himself in contemplating beings and landscapes. Additionally, Farnood also demonstrates a strong concern for solidarity and unity among people. In short, for harmony. This aspiration is clearly evident in his way of expressing the struggle between the fragment and the whole. Thus, his representations make explicit the outlines and bundles, the omissions, and the underlying flaws that structure his vision.
In fact, whether through peaceful pastoral scenes or convivial tea ceremonies, even through intricate panoramas or tectonic upheavals, Farnood focuses less on tangible elements and more on the currents and undulations that aggregate them. These imperceptible connections, usually unnoticed in ordinary times or perceived differently by each of us, tend to affirm the universe as irreducibly unique.
Because, fundamentally, beyond the blatant similarity between the terms “autistic” and “artistic,” which one cannot help but think about in such cases, doesn’t Farnood’s work further reinforce the idea that all creation would involve absolute solipsism?
His ink drawings on paper, recently discovered by the Iranian artistic community, are thus being unveiled for the very first time to the public through the solo exhibition dedicated to him.