Morteza Khakshoor: Diving Into Oblivion

Press Release 

Taymour Grahne Projects is pleased to present ‘Diving Into Oblivion’ - an online solo exhibition by LA-based artist Morteza Khakshoor (b. 1984, Iran), opening virtually on May 12, 2025.

In his latest body of work, Morteza Khakshoor presents a haunting new series of works on paper that explore the complexities of selfhood, psychological tension, and the past, through fragmented narratives and dreamlike figures. Each piece could be part of a larger story—but also exists independently, within its own self-contained universe.

There is a tension running throughout the series: a grim, brooding atmosphere that reflects both a personal headspace and a broader cultural unease. The works operate like portraits of a narrative. Figures emerge from the layers of allegory, with deeper meanings hidden beneath the surface, inviting viewers to piece together who they might be based on subtle details—posture, expression, fragments of setting. “I see myself in some of them,” Khakshoor admits, though the characters are not self-portraits in any traditional sense.

 Much of the inspiration behind the series comes from Khakshoor’s recent immersion in Contemporary American fictions set in the 1920s to 1950s - decades marked by cultural disillusionment, existential uncertainty, and the weight of generational trauma. The emotional residue of these novels has crept into the paintings, where figures spanning from babies to adults, blur into multidimensional characters—neither fully good nor bad, simply human. One symbol, the cylinder hat in ‘The Dumber You Are, The Better It Is for Both of Us’, directly references this literary influence and hints at themes of social performance and hidden interiority.

Themes of sexuality and manhood are persistent throughout Khakshoor’s wider body of work. Rather than presenting these ideas directly, he weaves them into the emotional and psychological texture of his images—surfacing in the tension between figures, in body language, and in the quiet spaces between action and expression. These undercurrents deepen the narrative possibilities of his work, inviting reflection without offering fixed interpretations. Across his work, there is an investigation into how men perform, conceal, or negotiate their emotional lives, uncovering the contradictions and emotional depth of masculinity.

Khakshoor’s process is as layered as the stories he suggests. Working on paper, he collages older and newer drawings together, trusting his gut with compositions and the potential unexpected stories emerging from this process. Meaning, he says, comes later. The results are semi-narrative works that operate like visual riddles—rich with ambiguity, steeped in allegory, and unmistakably personal. This new series invites viewers into a universe where every figure may be dreaming, remembering, or simply surviving—and where each image leaves as much unsaid as it reveals.

MORTEZA KHAKSHOOR'S CV HERE