Crows are among the most sociable and intelligent birds. Their lifestyle represents the fact that they have a correct perception of living.
In Zoroastrianism, the crow is considered a symbol of the purification of various impurities. Besides, ancient Iranian beliefs, it was considered the messenger of the spirits of the ancestors.
Throughout history, the crow has always attracted the attention of humans. It has been described with characteristics such as message carriers, wisdom, perseverance, purity, strong memory, foresight, and problem-solving.
They show human behaviors such as lovemaking, a sense of humor, playfulness, and joyfulness.
It is said that humans have performed some fundamental behaviors in the imitation of these birds.
Admittedly, what attracted me to this creature are their awareness and their social life.
Crows mourn the death of their fellows. If one of them gets hurt, the others will not hesitate to help immediately. If a crow chick is in danger, a group will counter the predator.
It seems that awareness and consciousness as a group ensure the survival and freedom of these marvelous creatures.
Farideh Malekolkalami, “a self-instructed artist” was born in Iran in 1929.
For Farideh, art has always been a top priority in her life.
Her paternal grandfather was Ahmad Shah special tutor and was bestowed the title of “Malek-ol-Kalam” , a literary honor, by Mohamad Ali Shah Qajar.
Due to her father’s frequent travels & missions, Farideh was home schooled by her mother who was a teacher until the sixth grade. After that, her family moved to Tehran where she continued her education at Anoushirvan Dadgar school for girls.
she graduated high school at the age of 16 but soon after, she lost her father. It was around this time that she was admitted to the University of Tehran to study midwifery. She graduated at the age of 20 and was assigned to the area of Masjed-e-Soliman, in Iran’s Khuzestan Province, for duties. It was there that she met her husband Dr. Pakdel. They had two children, “Pirooz and Shiva, both of whom currently reside in the United States.”
Farideh who is proficient in English, having leaned it as a child, is also familiar with Spanish. She has had three books translated from English to Farsi. She is also a poet and has published a book of her very own poetry. She also has a strong streak of creativity in other areas. She paints on rocks and a number of these painted rocks are exhibited at the National Library of Tehran. I first met her during the period when she was making beautiful cushions from old and recycled clothes.
Farideh says “as far back as I can remember, I’ve been dedicated to collecting any-old odd object such as buttons, fabrics, curtains, and old clothing which can be easily found around any home and I would re-purpose them, giving them a new use.
The exhibition at hand today, is one of a select few of the rocks that she’s been collecting and painting for a number of years. Using glue, she assembles and creates diverse shapes by joining the rocks and in some cases, later framing them. Additionally, she has created sculptures by stacking and cementing them together.
At the age of 93, she is no longer able to work because of poor eyesight and illness, but a lifetime of artistic & creative work she has assembled and preserved will forever serve as a beacon of light for the rest of us.
I wish her health and longevity.
Parvaneh Silani
April 10, 2022
Sama of Colors
When the universe makes a spark of joy and delight in my spirit, it gives birth to an image in my mind that finds its way onto the canvas through the flames of color.
Color and motion start a sensational dance on canvas and leave an impression that lives forever.
And now, here, we behold the impression of this memorable dance.
Saeedeh Sarafchi
October, 2021
The face, Compared with the whole body, plays a major role in the representation of human identity and the image it has of itself.
In my suspended self-portraits, however, it has lost its symbolic and semantic character and is more like a delusion.
I stared at my face for days! Gradually, instead of seeing my eyes, mouth, and face, I saw surfaces and lines that were not my eyes, mouth, and face… It was an alien from me …… Who am I?
I am, not me
طرحی نگرورزانه بر روشِ طراحیِ سلفْپرترههای معلّقِ ـمنمَنمْـ
Due to the current conditions in Iranian society, it seems that the younger generation has lived in a state of confusion and uncertainty about himself, the society and the era they live in. This phenomenon is especially evident in artists who have artistic returns; In fact, the young artist’s work largely reflects his mindset and understanding of these issues; Unfortunately, it often carries things that are not promising.
In the younger generation, most of the so-called artworks are afflicted by issues such as rootlessness, purposelessness, inefficacy in the form and content, misuse or misinterpretation of the western trends, indifference toward one’s own society and era, vulgarity, sloppiness and the like.
The generation that must make an effort to utilize the cultural traditions of their own country and the experiences of the previous generations, remain in a state of absurd suspension and inevitably resign themselves to their fate. The generation that must consciously attempt to understand the known and the unknown in order to eventually achieve positive outcomes and ramifications for the society, find themselves besieged and profoundly affected by incessant advertisements, fashions, and different types of foreign imports and suddenly observe themselves as a part of them without having had the opportunity or desire to experiment with and test these phenomena.
Now is the time when the younger generation aim to develop an awareness of and knowledge about themselves and their environment, substitute sloppiness with discipline and constant effort, know where they stand and what the value of life is and realize that the present and the future of this country, or generally speaking “the education and human culture” are dependent upon them.
* * *
This exhibition is an attempt at collecting the works in which some hints of hope about the future of art can be detected, the works that have been created because of the individual and social concerns of the artists and are seen as indicative of a determined effort at achieving an end result.
The artists have been selected from my close friends whose work and interests could cover some of the themes, which eventually leads to the gathering of a complete collection of different artistic tastes among Iran’s younger generation. I hope that this show will achieve its goal, or at least will be a starting point for the future activities of the artists toward advancing the cultural, social and national purposes.
Khaled Esmaeilvandi
April 3, 2020
At a time when it is full of cultural and identity issues and crises, Alborz is constantly and carefully searching for these issues in the ideal past and representing it in a new image. Relying on its cultural heritage, it seeks to create works that fit the conditions of its time with a special selection and an innovative combination of past themes.
What Alborz has used in this collection includes two ideas: one is “fire”, which is derived from Zoroastrian thought and ancient Iranian culture, and the other is “geometric and Islamic motifs” which is the result of post-Islamic Iranian art. Each of these two has its own roots and concepts, which together and together, carry and create new concepts that the artist seeks.
Alborz’s interest in the history and culture of Iran made him fascinated by the myths and themes related to Iran’s past, and especially the Zoroastrian religion. Phenomena such as four seasons, twelve months, whiteness and blackness, good and evil, light and darkness, geometry and organism, captivity and freedom, and the like, which are derived from the same ideas, can be found in his works.
However, his works are, first of all, a new and attractive combination of the elements of Oriental art and Iranian, as if he is looking for his play without any intermediaries or excuses. In fact, we are confronted with spontaneous works that are beautiful before they reach beautiful and idealistic concepts. The geometric patterns, the organic forms, the colors, the contrasts, the texture and everything that is included in these images are spectacular.
Khaled Esmaeilvandi
The world moves toward Chaos and the occurrences toward being scattered, The scientists call this phenomenon entropy.
It seems that nature is running away from symmetry, uniformity and cliche.
Around us is an endless tangle of space and time.
My paintings narrate a universe full of happenings, action and sometimes ambiguous dreams and fantasies.
In this effort I used limited colors such as black and white and sometimes grey. Forms are unrepeatable and are made from colors and happenings. Textures are produced from combining multiple materials.
The fusion of insignificant things.
This all, is a pleasant experience for me of freely expressing emotions.
My paintings visualize an unknown and untouchable universe, sometimes full of voice , sometimes full of silence.
A reverse world.
Cancer, Saratān (arabic) or Changār (persian) are all different names for a disease that gives a sudden shock and fright not only to the affected person but also to the people around her/him. Yet, talking about it remains a kind of taboo topic in society. I accompanied my sister in our fight against the disease and whatever was burdening me or gave me hope I drew on papers that were nothing but a mystery for me. Doctors saw a tumor in medical images (sonographies), but I saw fear, I saw doubt, and I heard the scream of silence. The “Changār” collection is the result of this journey. I made the Installation “Hur Carpet” (Hur means marsh but also sun) with 2001 pieces of paper, which illustrates hope and overcoming the darkness.
The exhibition coincides with the international Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The pink color in the “Changār” collection also refers to the pink ribbon that is a symbol for raising awareness to this disease and showing solidarity with affected persons.
The Artists of This Collection:
· Abolfazl Aghaei· Lale Ayati· Mona Aghababaei· Alireza Esmaeilpoor· Parvin Erisian· Molood Esnaasharimini· Masoomeh Amini· Morteza Basravi· Zahra barahimi· Tahmoores Bahadorani· Parsa Payandeh· Hosein Tahvilian· Maryam Tavakoli· Elham Jazayeri· Seyyed Mahmood Hoseini· Parvin Hakim· Gelareh Khorasani· Mohammad Khalili· Marzieh Khoshfetrat· Elham Rafiaei· Hajar Rahgozar· Parvaneh Silani· Manoochehr Soltani· Javad Taheri· Foroozan Montazeri· Sadegh Farhadian· Majid Faal· Nasim Mahdavi· Foroozan Montazeri· Abbas Mirzaei· Ali Mirzaei· Nooshon Nafisy· Zahra Yoosofi
At a time when the human soul breathes and walks, there is so much endless and unreasonable turmoil for him, or so immersed in painful rest and deep sleep, they have kidnapped the pleasure of life from man.
This man, the birth of world anxiety,the heir of loneliness of ourselves, and this man, who has no background, Except that Facing.
He is sometimes at his most dangerous point.A point in which he does not feel at risk, and at that moment he is a contemporary man.
He looks, rotate at the Contemporary Word, around nothing, As long as it only seeks to mean it, and thus the words themselves are Meaningless.
Not very complicated, Anonymous is around him, and he looks at him, It is simple to simply calm the turbulence of man in himself, and simply her loneliness. Depth of loneliness in oneself.
Only so much that my loneliness is like my hidden disruption,Behind the pupils of my eye,a corner of the immense flaw that I recently found.
A corner of strange situations, Do not die without death, I live without life and it’s really hard the most difficult miracles, A perspective for believing
Watch with your eyes, Touch with your hands, and measure your perceptions
But let’s go to your heart, Feel whatsoever,Or calm down, Or you will try, Or you will stay in the stillness.
I belong to the nature, where I found myself, walked and pictured what I have heard or touched. Being and not being, talking and silence were visualized by colors and forms.
The riot of memories
Heshmat-ollah Behzadi is from the same generation of gold born in the 20’s. A generation whose relationship with the art school of fine arts in Isfahan is deep and eternal. Behzadi, in the 40’s where Isfahan’s art exhibition and art event is not traditional today, displays in Abadan and modern Ahwaz at that time, and these works are also featured in prestigious Tehran exhibitions.
The roots of Behzadi are back to Isfahan and during his teenage years, with the first spark of art: “Our house was a choreographed painting. After school, I went to a stamina on Shaykh Bahai Street, which stroked the most beautiful beauty, and placed its dark signs on its display. That’s where the master of the work disappears. “The fine art school for Behzadi, 13, is all about her. The first day is the decisive day: “On the first day of the Isfahan Fine Arts Conservatory, they told me to go through the design of Mr. Poursafa. The professor also said that I must learn materials and design. “If in recent years, despite the lack of centers of art and colorful artistic classes, the student is always sacrificed and abused financially and even spiritually, but 60 years ago in Isfahan and at the fine art school such It was not, and everything was calculated and supported by an immersive approach: “Every year we provided the pen, the color of the painting, and everything we needed for our paintings. Professor Poursafa wrote the requirements and we were going to take from the warehouse. Even every year Eid donated sixty Tomans as an artist’s encouragement. “The professors were also exceptional professors:” Hajj Mosaverul Molki had a room and accepted the students of the Conservatory. This master taught us how to make brushes from the cat’s back. Master Bahadori also married in hand in Iranian art. The professor was like a kind and loving father once a week to our class. “The conservatory’s exams were not a bit of exams, and with planning, and even tedious:” For the last year, Professor Poursafa took us to the field of play and all of the children in a place. It was winter, and the canvas and paint were with us. I took it to the top of the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque and told me to draw this Isfahan and Isfahan. My hands were frozen. He began to paint himself and began to go throughout the day. How long we should deliver the work. “The six-year course of the Conservatory ends, and the path to Khuzestan is a continuation of Behzad’s life. Several solo and group exhibitions in Abadan and Ahwaz, where modern conditions are experienced, is a young and passionate way of life.
Isfahan enchantment is a return to this city again, but 60’s is the cultural and artistic vacuum of Isfahan. Patience and teacher in 68 and the start of the artist’s exhibitions will lead to five individual exhibitions in the classical gallery. Iranian paintings and modern styles are exhibited, and the exhibition is a place to visit old professors and students. Thirty years ago, its first exhibit in Isfahan and in the classic gallery was presented to its three professors: “Bahadori, Abu Ata and Poursafa”.
Today, at 77, with a quill artworks , history and bitterness of humor, it has taken an impressive look at the events surrounding it. Heshmatollah Behzadi, with a poetic look, has set our times in such a way. And in addition to seeing the works, the exhibition can be the presence of old schoolchildren, the golden and irreversible generation of 60 years ago.
Hamed Ghasri
In the past and the present, humankind has been involved in that he could be and act as he wants, and not on the basis of the templates that others have defined for him, although he has recognized himself this way or even believes in that, but he often refuses it. It can be said that women in our contemporary society feel these templates even more than men. This collection which titled “Bary Degar ” ( Bary degar means once again) was formed with this background and attempted to portray these templates.
New Ways for Expressing Reality Situation
Art is all abstract, meaning that art incorporates with the world and separates one aspect of it to show us a fact and refresh our understanding of the world.
Visiting classical artworks (with specific subjects), visitors become passive,because everything is clear. But when encountering abstract art, one needs to thing and accept the challenge. I have tried to create this encountering and involvement in my artworks.
I have tried not to explicitly represent subjects in the following artworks.Although the motivation of beginning of these works were based on ” subject”, I have never stand by any commitment to the common realism. Considering that in most of the works, looking down on earth was in a way that induces an imagination of depth and perspective, any point in these works, like any thing in life, can have a meaning. Definitely a visitor of abstract works is deprived of recognition of a clear reality but faces with other aspects of reality.
I have used freely the materials in creating these works. Putting aside the traditional connection with canvas and painting tools, I have experienced new ways. The result of this change was new quality and visual aspects brought to me, for example, a new texture was created that induces depth and movement, or with controlling the colors, I have increased the influence of the forms. The fluidity of materials when painting provided me with experiencing more expressing possibilities and this is a satisfying and convincing feeling for a painter.
Javad Taheri
Autumn 2018
