On Tuesday, October 6, 2026, the INTERZONE gallery is pleased to host the exhibition Il muro del tempo ha un foro (The wall of time has a hole) ― by Iranian artist Sepideh Sarlak, curated by Manuela De Leonardis.

The exhibition traces the journey of Tehran-born artist Sepideh Sarlak through themes of detachment, memory, and the fragmentation of contemporary identity. The title of the exhibition pays homage to the verses of the poet Sohrab Sepehri: «The wall of time has a hole / through which my face can be seen».
At the center of Sarlak's research lies nostalgia, expressed in Farsi with the terms nostalezhi and deltangi to emphasize a deep sense of longing. It is a sentiment dear to the supreme Persian poet Hafez, who defines it in both a spiritual and physical key as a «thirst of the soul», which for Sepideh Sarlak also becomes a tool for inner knowledge.

In Sepideh Sarlak's words, modern man's identity has lost a central ethnic or religious root: it is fragmented, torn to pieces, and develops like a rhizome. The artist adopts Gilles Deleuze's philosophical metaphor to describe this centerless tangle of roots, capable of moving in ever-new directions. Identity thus becomes something that floats between the image in a passport and the traces of light remaining in memory, “memory of those with whom we have crossed a path together. Or what is true/real and beautiful, a trace of light, of awareness, the path or the very same trail.”
Sepideh states, “Through art, I transmit the light that illuminates me from within”.

The exhibition itinerary documents the artist's technical, chromatic, and conceptual evolution, from her early oil paintings in Tehran (under the guidance of Hossein Maher) and Florence, to her latest productions.

A cornerstone of Sarlak's research is the ritual of stitching, embroidery, and mending. This practice is strongly influenced by the lessons of Louise Bourgeois, to whom the artist dedicated her thesis at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence in 2010 (with professors Andrea Granchi and Gianna Scoino).
The slow, ritualistic, and repeated gesture of the thread joins separate edges of fabric and life experience. Sarlak favors red thread for its clear symbolism linked to life, blood, and pain. This conceptual repair unites the past with the present, especially when the gesture meets the canvas and photographic collage.

Both historical and recent works are featured in the exhibition. Mirrored and enlarged images from the family album (the artist as a child and as an adult, her mother, her brother Siavash, and her sister Saharnaz) enter the compositions, reproduced through silkscreen printing. Sarlak deliberately chooses the stillness of the passport photo: «I wanted a neutral image upon which to add the layer of feelings, of lived experience».
Unlike other contemporary artistic experiences that use embroidery, there is no room for humor or irony in Sepideh Sarlak's work. What emerges is a vision of art that goes beyond the private dimension to become the voice of a social, political, and universal message.

The artist Sepideh Sarlak and the curator Manuela De Leonardis will be present at the exhibition opening on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, from 6 pm to 9 pm.

On the opening day, the exhibition book will be presented, collecting the exhibited works and a compilation of poems by the author: « Sepideh Sarlak ― Il muro del tempo ha un foro » published by Interzone, 88 pp., 2026 (limited edition of 30 copies).

Sepideh Sarlak was born in Tehran after the Islamic revolution. At eighteen, she moved to Florence to study at the Academy of Fine Arts, where she attended the painting course with masters Gianna Scoino and Andrea Granchi, who encouraged her toward a personal style of painting. After a thesis on the female matrix in the textile art of Louise Bourgeois, she moved to Milan for her master's degree at the Brera Academy, graduating with a thesis on the symbolism of the house in contemporary art. After an Erasmus in Belgium and a course at California State University, she returned to Iran, where she lived for four years on Hormuz Island (Persian Gulf) carrying out an artistic residency. Since 2023, she has returned to live and work in Florence.
Exhibitions and projects (selection): Lo specchio interiore, Galleria del Carbone, Ferrara (solo) (2026); Persian garden, Galleria Casa Abitata, Florence (solo) (2025); Paesaggi persiani, Villa Borletti, Origgio (VA) (solo) (2024); Respiro, LOFT19, Montespertoli (FI) (solo) (2023/24); Miei tappeti persiani, Palazzo Frescobaldi - Alberto Boralevi showroom, Florence (solo) (2023); Hasht cheshmeh Art Space, Kashan (Iran) (2022); Hall of Mirrors, Fondazione 3.19.27(2), Toronto (Canada) (solo) (2021); Zine happening VIII, Kunst Hal Gent (Belgium) (2021); Selected for the Open Call organization 3.19.27(2) for artists without freedom of expression, Toronto (Canada) (2020); Being, Galleria Haft Samar, Tehran (Iran) (two-person show) (2019); Triptych created for the Stefanel fashion building showroom, in collaboration with architects Antonicelli & Zaniboni, via Tortona, Milan (solo) (2018); Le istanze del cuore, curated by Diego Nicolosi, in collaboration with the poet Oretta Dalle Ore, Spazio CB32, Milan (solo) (2017); Infinity, Galleria Haft Samar, Tehran (Iran) (solo) (2017); Il sole del cuore, Libreria e Galleria Immaginaria Arti Visive, Florence (solo) (2017); 100 Opere 100 Artisti, Galleria Golestan, Tehran (Iran) (2016); Open studio at In Labo Art studio, Milan (2015); Paesaggi interiori, Galleria Otto, Rome (solo) (2014); Alien Alias, TAG City Gallery, Brussels (Belgium) (2013); Architetture interiori, Galleria ArteDove, Florence (solo) (2012); GAT (Giovani Artisti di Talento) ArturOilMust, curated by Andrea Granchi and Matteo Innocenti (2012); All'inizio non era un'isola, Spazio Assab One, Milan (2011); Della morte e dell'illuminazione, Chiesa S. Ambrogio della Vittoria, Parabiago (MI) (2011); Works published in No. 9 of Cose di Casa (cover and article) (2010); Start Point (Biennale dei giovani artisti), Galleria Varart, Florence (2009); Pitti Immagine (Fashion Fair), Florence (solo) (2008); Nuovo Fiato, California State University, curated by Marsha Steinberg, Florence (2007).

@sepideh.sarlak
http://www.sepidehsarlack.com/
https://www.interzonegalleria.it/

Sepideh Sarlak ― Il muro del tempo ha un foro
curated by Manuela De Leonardis
on display O6.1O.2O26 | 31.1O.2O26
Tuesday – Friday, 3 pm – 8 pm
Saturday, 11 am – 1 pm & 4 pm – 8 pm