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Holy Zoo

Mohsen Gholami started working on his collection of hippos and the idea of ​​this collection was formed in the political context of his country, where people with violent behaviors were raving about heaven. A strange contradiction was surging in them without seeing themselves or trying to fix it. From his point of view, the hippos are creatures that could show us these human traits and behavior with more exaggeration, such as the shouting of an angel. A Sleeping heavy being flying with angelic wings as if these wings are holy. This paradox can be a flip for the strange things that happen in our country such as holy wars, forced heaven, and barbaric deeds that are under the Islamic shadow.

Holy Zoo Exhibition

Mohsen Gholami sculpture exhibition was held in Iranshahr Gallery in 2015. In this exhibition, on top of the entrance gate, a giant hippo was flying near the ground with small golden wings, and a hippo with a halo of light was sleeping,
screaming, or wearing holy robes. In the middle of them was an installation of 12 sheep’s heads with different colors, whose golden horns were a symbol of their immortality. This exhibition was held under the title of the Holy Zoo.