The Spark Is You—a two-part Parasol unit show currently exhibited in both Venice and the foundation’s London space—is incredibly punchy. Bringing together nine Iranian artists, the London exhibition includes this piece by Koushna Navabi, which hangs from the ceiling on the ground floor, as though caught in the act of falling or floating. It sways slightly in its position; a tree trunk formed to mimic a dismembered female body, with a violent space where the heart should be and a gaping mouth, apparently caught in the midst of a blood-curdling scream. The exhibition is both tranquil and harrowing in moments, controlled in its chaos, but pulling no punches with its most impactful works: one of which takes the form of a giant Newton’s cradle, with three metal balls smashing cacophonously into one another on use. “Living and working in disparate parts of the world, each of the artists responds uniquely to modern society,” says the foundation, “yet a common heritage of poetry, evident in their use of metaphor and parable, runs through all their works.”
