ArtDayMe : Azadeh Jafarian : One of Bita Vakili's most provocative new pieces in recent years is an untitled piece from the “Guardian of Treasure” series, which was made in the dimensions of... using the method of merging materials on canvas in 2024.

In this series, the artist, whose abstract work has set records at Christie's and Tehran Auctions, is more figurative than ever. According to her, the “Guardian of Treasure” series is a celebration of the triangle—cultural identity, historical buildings, and cultural individuals—which forms the basis and source of an old human legacy.

The Vakili artwork initially draws the viewer's attention to ideas like nostalgia, time passing, and the relationship between the past and present. From a visual construction standpoint, the piece is geometric and symmetrical, with a center cross dividing it into two sections. However, the work's focal core, which appears to be designed to honor a single chair, precludes visual fragmentation. The artist created all of the structure and intersections so that they direct the viewer's attention to the central point: a nostalgic chair, which is undoubtedly the focal point and essence of the piece.

The spectator can get further hints by examining the work's color scheme. The blue, gray, and green hues of the painting all work together to elicit emotions like coldness, sorrow, and nostalgia. Warmer colors are used in the center, which depicts the garden's area and the surrounding landscape. A sense of aging, weathering, and loss is further conveyed by the use of stone-like textures and a fractured wall in the background.

The work's execution style falls somewhere between realism and abstraction, with some portions being realistic (like the garden scene) and others being abstract and structured. The work's layering results in a three-dimensional sensation, giving the image a wide visual depth and establishing a disparity between the organic space of the image's deep and the industrial structures in the foreground.

One of the main features of the work's conceptual study is undoubtedly the contrast between nature and industry. Vakili's paintings depict a dichotomy between the natural and man-made worlds. This contradiction is communicated through the use of hard materials and industrial structures in the background, as well as the inclusion of light and greenery in the center of the composition.

In a manner, the chilly hues and cracked walls convey the buried memories and passing of time. In the heart of the work, there is a garden and nature environment that appears to be a window into the past. Vakili is attempting to convey the importance of taking care of it by establishing a revered aura at its heart.

The work's composition is reminiscent of surrealist paintings, which create a mental or dreamy world. It's as if the work serves as a bridge between the physical and cerebral realms. The piece evokes nostalgia and homesickness. It appears that the artist is attempting to convey a place buried in memory. The piece includes an invitation to introspection. It's as if it encourages the spectator on an inward journey to find hidden meanings. The contrast between limited and free space in the painting might also represent hope and escape from mental constraints.

Vakili's work is an instance of contemporary art that uses a variety of painting styles and methods, as well as visual layering, to portray topics such as the importance and glorification of nostalgia. Her art is both visually appealing and conceptually thought-provoking, so that each spectator can form a personal and mental relationship with it.

_ Bita Vakili's remarks regarding her work

Two visits to the Moghaddam Museum House served as my inspiration. More than a century ago, during the Qajar period, the Ehtesab al-Molk and Moghaddams families built this lovely historical structure in the heart of Tehran, Iran's capital, which is presently preserved by the University of Tehran.

When I first visited the property a few years ago, I saw a break in the wall that led to the owner's private garden, where he appeared to spend an hour every day alone with flowers and plants. Via this crack, an antique Polish chair could be seen, where the house's owner sat and drew a breath. That chair represented to me an individual being, a value-creating human being, who established a museum with doors and walls that radiated Iranian identity.

When I went to the museum house three years later, I looked through the gap into the garden and realized that the chair was nowhere to be found. They threw the chair away after claiming it was broken!

This work, which is a tribute to great people who have defined Iranian identity and brought priceless beauty to the world, was created out of regret and sadness.

The work is a part of the “The Guardian of Treasure” series, which uses architecture and lesser-known historical, cultural, and creative context to illuminate Iranian cultural identity, which acts as the identity card and authenticity of this area and all of us.

Despite centuries of threats and impositions, Iran remains one of the few living and thriving human civilizations, as evidenced by its historical buildings.

Besides, the “Guardian of Treasure” series points to the educated individuals who erected these buildings and other spiritual qualities, and to other selfless people who have kept them over the years.

For me, that chair represented people who built civilizations and identities, and its disappearance motivated me to acknowledge them in this way.

Iranians are the ones who established identity and authenticity. Their achievements have resulted in this historical identification, and their recollection and names must be maintained. Humans must be valued highly because they perish considerably sooner than things and buildings.

To remind us of the need of acknowledging significant people, from my mother to all mothers and from my father to all fathers, I fashioned a cross-shaped structure around that chair, giving it a sacred feel. This mindset and point of view permeate the whole “The Guardian of Treasure” series, of which this is the first installment.

Bita Vakili, who began 2025 by exhibiting her work at two art fairs in Frankfurt and Moscow, has six noteworthy sales at Christie's.

Apart from the record-breaking $45,000 sale of "Dreaming New York" on April 18, 2012, one of Vakili's nameless works sold for $40,000 on October 21, 2014, and another untitled piece was purchased for $35,000 in October 2011. Furthermore, she sold her artwork "This Is Me" for $31,000 in October 2010. Meanwhile, on April 27, 2010 and April 2011, two of her unnamed paintings sold for $25,000 and $26,000, respectively.

Vakili's artworks have been featured in ten editions of the Tehran Auction so far. At the 20th edition of the art event in July, a three-panel piece from the collection "The Garden of History" sold for $130,000, setting a new record for her.

Vakili's paintings are held by prestigious institutions such as Bank Pasargad, Tourism Bank, and the Raha Gallery's Collection , the Farjam Foundation of Dubai, in addition to well-known Iranian collectors like Professor Firouz Naderi.