Remembering – Being
Trees were originally acquainted with rocks and mountains, waters and winds, and after the emergence of human beings, they have lived alongside us. For the ancient human, the origin of life was a unique tree which acted like strands of an enormous rope, connecting the earth to the heavens with its branches and roots. From a mythological standpoint, blossoming, fruitful, bare, standing, broken, autumnal, and frosted trees were all metaphors of the cycle of life and death. While trees are not particularly mysterious or sacred today, they are still a powerful concern among environmental activists, artists and people from different walks of life, as they serve as symbols of natural diversity and terrestrial life. Nevertheless, despite these concerns, trees are facing the most serious dangers during our time. We do not need to reach too far; looking back at our memories of childhood, each generation may remember the experience of walking near an abundance of trees and gardens, realizing that the colorful silence of trees has been now replaced with the loud noise and pollution and the weighty presence of concrete buildings. As one of the oldest relatives of human beings, trees are among the first species to keep time using the rings and layers in their trunks. As so, trees can be called relics; they are an existence resulted by time. Trees are both commemorations of the existence of human beings, and themselves beings of memory. This similarities of this archetype with humankind have been best expressed in literature and poetry, with trees becoming symbols and metaphors of human beings, becoming mothers, uteruses, beloveds, friends, wise and foolish people, or gaining attributes such as friendship, mercy, hope, resistance and humility. Aside from being described in words, they have been part of visual literature from ancient times, from cave paintings to modern and contemporary art. There have been many exhibitions dedicated to trees. However, considering their multitude of artistic and biological aspects for contemporary people, the current exhibition at Soo Contemporary seeks to reintroduce this concept to the viewer using the materials and canvases created by the artists, through an effort towards defamiliarization of the subject, and by emphasizing on the role and presence of trees in the pieces and the world of their artists so as to highlight the effects of their absence in the contemporary world. This exhibition depicts trees in the diverse contemplative and imaginative approaches of the artists, and not in their biological diversity. While trees have become demystified in our times, the aesthetic experience of human beings have been enriched with their encounters with trees; from the very sensual experiences of touching a tree to their symbolic and conceptual readings, from its image as a whole to each and every one of its components, from roots and leaves to bole and fruits, from the relationship between humans and trees and the entirety of the universe, and from trees as containers of time to trees as composites of shadows, colors, dynamic and static forms. Ultimately, the exhibition has sought to exhibit a selection of these aspects and attributes in the works of artists from different generations. 
Sheila Kashani 

Please click the link below for visiting “Remembering-Being’ virtual exhibition.

https://soocontemporary.com/vrsoo/remembering-being/