‘Moshiri had given form to a world in which borders between language, time, and place are porous. These are not ciphers or stand-ins for the real thing, but rather, they are as real as, say, reality television. Deceptively crafty, they offer up a vision of a globalized world, acting as X-rays of a culture that is dynamic, fluid, and composed of infinite pieces.’ --D. Nasser-Khadivi & F. Rahim Ismail, Farhad Moshiri, Milan, 2016, Vol. I, p. 57.

The evolution of Moshiri's jar series since 2001 shows his early depictions as Iranian clay vessels in earthy tones, patinas and weathered textures such as the present work. Moshiri’s oeuvre encompasses an interdisciplinary practice that includes embroidery, acrylic pastries, Swarovski crystals, kitchen knives and classical bowls and jars. Some are produced without any writings, while others are decorated with traditional Iranian proverbs and poetic stanzas, from bumper sticker slogans, cheesy pop-song lyrics, and the calls of street vendors, symbolising a literally ‘jarring’ approach to juxtaposing seemingly disparate time and place to become a personal idiosyncratic expression of an explorative artist.

Moshiri draws influences from Pop Art, Conceptual and traditional iconography of his native Iran, critiquing on the pervasive Western influence in his homeland and bringing questions of identity and authenticity in his work. With kitschy expressions, his recurring jars reveal his fascination with archaeology and Persian history and Western culture with titles such as the present work I don't know why am I so distressed tonight? inscribed in nasta’aliq, an ornate, stately and calligraphic script used in writing the Persian alphabet. As the artist states, ‘My mission in life was always to escape reality, and art was going to be my ticket. When I sense my work looks too serious, I feel I can’t breathe and have to poke a few holes in the canvas to let the hot air out.’ (D. Nasser-Khadivi & F. Rahim Ismail, Farhad Moshiri, Milan, 2016, Vol. I, p. 52).

Iran boasts a heavy history of jars, from the Susa’s 6,000 years ago to Sassanian vessels predating Islam, to the advanced wares of 13th-century Seljuq pots and to the 17th-century Safavids. However just as their vast history serves as a framework for ancient times, the contemporary Iranian culture was plagued by a superficial and commercially driven artifice. Moshiri aims to reflect this cultural element within his works, his jars being regarded as ‘antiquities in the broadest sense of the word’ considering them ‘as remnants of a buried past unearthed to a contemporary view’ both physically and symbolically, through the decayed painting technique and the symbol of the jar as emblematic of his country’s past. (D. Nasser-Khadivi & F. Rahim Ismail, Farhad Moshiri, Milan, 2016, Vol. I, p. 50).

To depict this decay, Moshiri experiments with weathered textures in his jar works, through a process akin to the techniques art dealers used to touch up 19th-century Qajar oil portraits, which he often saw while strolling through Tehran’s antique district. The craqueleurs of the iridescent paint gives the jar its rich texture, which at once, makes the object appear beautiful as well as ancient and important.