The writer of this article is criticizing the Fattima Art Gallery in Tehran for its seemingly haphazard selection of works. The writer contends that a group exhibit must meet certain requirements that Fattima is least concerned with. In response, another arts writer of this magazine, Behrang Samadzadegan, whose piece you will find in these pages, maintains that there are no written laws that group exhibits must have a driving theme. He further criticizes Jinoos for her appeal to emotions when it comes to evaluating works. The debate may clarify some of the issues related to the operation of art galleries and the artists whose works they choose to exhibit.

Another group exhibit of two sculptors, three painters, and two video artist with the familiar rectangular card of FATTIMA Art Gallery. The question is: When does a selection of work merit to be exhibited together? The answer seems to be: When they have "something" in common – a single medium, participant age, view point, an event, a common collector, or some such themes. But the more I look at this selection the less I find that unifying "something."

I fail to understand what strings together the paintings of {Behrang Samadzadegan}, the dolls of {Yasmin Sinai}, the tablet-sculptures of {Amir Mo'bed}, and the video clips (video arts!) of {Amirali Qasemi} and {Reza Haeri}.

No, I don't want to even look at the individual works – for example the so-called video art of Qasemi which is nothing but a video clip of the rock band 127, the fanciful dolls of Sinaee that can only provoke a "how nice!" reaction, or the unpolished sculptures of Mo'bed with their metal tablets (never forget quantity when it comes to this artist).

Let's suppose for the moment that paintings of {Elham Rasmi} and {Afshin Pirhashemi} and Samadzadegan are all figurative and have something in common, then what about the rest of the works? I want to know what Mr. Pirhashemi [the gallery owner] wants to achieve with these haphazard collection of works? Is Fattima anything but a bachelor house of an art gallery established to just throw things in a salad bowl and see what will happen?

Fattima is among the newly opened galleries that has set itself the task of introducing young artists and it has turned into a hang-out for avant-garde or pseudo avant-garde Tehrani artists. Established art galleries of the city have become the enclave of established artist and their walls are adorned with the same old works that we recycled everywhere. As such, Fattima's original call for works by younger artists was quite welcome, and at first it strove to be a small arena for innovative works. Of late, however, it has fallen into the same trap that its owner first criticised, namely, the trap of self-indulgence and favoritism, leading to the same old works, only of lesser merit and open to all kinds of objections. Could it be that revolutionaries are always the first to cave in to the old value system?

I believe that managing an art gallery, like any other profession, has a minimum set of requirements. Could it be that the painter Mr. Pirhashemi is doing damage to the young artistic community, indeed damaging the sense of perfection the artist is seeking? I am not sure.