From buttery leather La-Z-Boys to towering indoor plants, every sitcom living room has an instantly recognizable look. The furniture, wallpaper and never-moving props set the mood and play an important role in each episode.
The recent wave of recreations (Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment in New York, Saved by the Bell diner in Chicago) prove that we’ve always wanted to step through the screen and onto the set of our favorite show. There’s a nostalgic comfort to these rooms that we grew up watching.
Babak Ganjei’s paintings of 90’s sitcom living rooms are empty and unlabelled. It’s up to the viewer to assign each image a show title and personal significance. The melancholy of an empty Frasier living room stares back at you. Your own memories of watching the show fill in the emotional reaction.
The series is called Some Places I’ve Lived which speaks to the artist’s strong connections with the living rooms through his TV screen.
See if you can match the paintings to the shows they represent: Frasier, Seinfeld, Friends, Only Fools and Horses, Twin Peaks, Father Ted, Alan Partridge, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Simpsons and Wayne’s World.
Babak Ganjei’s set of 10 postcards are available for purchase on his portfolio.
