The Task of the Mythologist: Anahita Razmi

CARBON 12 is delighted to present The Task of the Mythologist, Anahita Razmi’s sixth solo exhibition at the gallery, including an intervention by artist Peyman Shafieezadeh. In his canonical book Mythologies (1957), Roland Barthes analyses how myths are constructed through signs and symbols. Focusing on Western popular culture, he considers how “modern myths” are produced through everyday words and objects.

For her sixth solo exhibition at Carbon 12, Anahita Razmi builds on this philosophical premise to explore global power structures embedded in both our material and virtual worlds. For Razmi, symbols such as the fingers-crossed emoji, a Turkish talismanic shirt, or a ’90s Britpop emblem hold unstable meanings, shifting with context and use. It is precisely the act of deconstructing these layered meanings that illuminates their significance, what Barthes describes as “the task of the mythologist.” Razmi takes up this task materially, combining, morphing, and transforming cultural references across media to trouble systems of value and generate complex understandings.