Statement

A direct encounter with war, and with the overwhelming reality of its presence, is a profoundly existential experience. Beyond its social, political, and ethical dimensions, war also has an intensely personal and internal aspect—one that is inscribed differently in each individual’s memory. Everyone carries their own account of the moment they hear the roar of bombers overhead; of how they confronted war and, for those who emerge from it, of what remains afterward: fear, suffering, memory, and the persistent attempt to return to life. The narratives may resemble one another, yet the lived experience of war remains singular and deeply personal.

Pourang Pirataei’s work has consistently been characterized by an expressive quality, which continues to form the foundation of his visual language in this body of work. Both the language and content of the works emerge from personal experience—an experienced reality that the work approaches not merely as representation, but as a form of self-narration.

This narrative unfolds through a language that is humorous, exaggerated, and at times delirious. Laughter does not stand in opposition to suffering; rather, it becomes a means of articulating and enduring it—a laughter that carries anxiety and hope simultaneously. In this sense, humor becomes a way of confronting darkness: a language through which the pain of living can be expressed while preserving a sense of hope for redemption and a belief in the possibility of light.