Analyzing the Emersion of Conceptual Art in Iran with an Emphasis on the First Exhibition Held

Conceptual Art or Conceptualism began by prioritizing the idea behind the work, rejecting modernist aesthetics and challenging the definition of art then gradually took into account the criticism of social and political issues in the world. Conceptual Art emerged in the second half of the 1960s in the United Kingdom and the United States. Shortly after the emergence of Conceptual Art in the world, Iranian artists, with different perspectives and goals, also took steps to approach this movement. The purpose of this article is to analyze and examine the efforts of Iranian artists from the first sparks to present state of Conceptual Art in contemporary Iranian art. This research is organized by qualitative and descriptive-analytical method and aimed at answering the following questions: Based on the characteristics of Conceptual Art in the world, which exhibitions can be considered as the origin of the emergence and stabilization of this movement in Iran? And what are the unique characteristics of Conceptual Art in Iran? In order to answer these questions, this article first discussed the history and characteristics of Conceptual Art in the world; The characteristics of Conceptual Art include the rejection of traditional and modern views on aesthetics, emphasis on the priority of the idea over the technique, the use of new media, critical thinking towards the definition of art as well as social, political and cultural issues, the usage of repetitive patterns and serial order and the use of verbal expressions and language in art. Then, the history of Conceptual Art in Iran is examined and four exhibitions that are among the first exhibitions that were held under the title of Conceptual Art in Iran, including Blue, Gonj and Gostreh 1 and 2 and the First Exhibition of the Iranian Conceptual Art was analyzed and investigated by inductive method. In the end, it was concluded that although in the first three exhibitions, the artists tried to use new experiences and, in some cases, new media, but the modernist point of view dominated many aspects of their works. Also, their activities were stopped after an initial attempt and were even forgotten by the group members. While the works of the First Exhibition of the Iranian Conceptual Art were very similar to the characteristics of Conceptual Art in the world and due to the continuation of holding similar exhibitions in the following years, it has caused the emergence of an influential movement on contemporary Iranian art. The most important characteristics of Conceptual Art in Iran is that this movement did not pay much attention to the criticism of art and its definition, unlike its characteristics in the early days in United Kingdom and the United States. Rather, Conceptual Art in Iran has prioritized cultural, political and social issues, as well as individual and collective human concerns in the form of tradition, religion, memory and nostalgia.