ArtDayMe : Titled Khokhan, the exhibition features an intriguing name as Ghadiri (born 1987, Tabriz) welcomes visitors into a world of strange and hybrid creatures.

Ahad Ghadiri, who participated with Mojdeh Gallery in the WOPART art fair in Lugano, Switzerland, four years ago in October, has now presented his latest sculptures at the gallery in Tehran.

Art critic Saadat Afzoud, who wrote the exhibition statement for Ghadiri’s sculptural works, offers the following reflections:

“Khokhan is an Azerbaijani Turkish word meaning ‘bogeyman,’ a creature born of imaginary folklore that, in the past, was invoked to encourage children to behave well. The bogeyman has no specific appearance; perceptions of this monster can vary dramatically from one society to another, and even from one family to another within the same society. Bogeymen are merely formless embodiments of fear in the mind.

“The monsters in this body of work, however, are not mythical creatures that come from outside to serve as objects of fear. Rather, they refer inward, to a part of ourselves that usually remains concealed. In this series, the boundary between the human and animal faces is no longer fixed; the dividing lines dissolve entirely. Here, the animal is not merely a symbol or a visual subject but represents an instinctive, raw, and repressed part of the human being—the inner monster we conceal in everyday life, yet which continues to live within us.

“Structurally, Ahad Ghadiri’s sculptural works are hybrid. Examining the term ‘hybrid’ within the context of culture and art leads us to two definitions: a mythological composite body formed by combining two or more beings, and a hybrid medium in contemporary art, referring to the intermingling of artistic media and everyday objects within an artwork. In sculpture, therefore, the term ‘hybrid’ can describe both a creature born of the artist’s imagination and a method of construction…”

Ghadiri’s sculptures will remain on view at Mojdeh Gallery through October 30, 2026, except Saturdays and public holidays.

Venue: Mojdeh Gallery, 18th Eastern Street, North Allameh Street, Saadat Abad, Tehran.

Photos: Siamak Zomorodi Motlagh