aydin aghdashlou: painting his life story with power
DESCRIPTION
Excerpt from my paper on Aydin Aghdashlou: Flipping through the 1998 Iranian Contemporary Art catalogue, there is one Iranian artist, whose art work stands out to me. When I stare at Aydin Aghdashlou’s painting titled Memories of Ice and Fire III from his series Memories of Devastation 1980 , I am able to truly grasp in a split second how “literary and artistic creations [emerge] from the sidelines towards the centre, bringing with them a whole range of new sensibilities”. The two-dimensional female figure in his painting, Years of Fire and Snow, 1980 is rendered to display traditional Persian attire. By doing so, he demonstrates the elements of deeply rooted traditional painting from the heirs of Safavid the dynasty (1501-1736) through to the artists from the Isfahan school (late 16th century-early 18th century). He then traverses through strong eclectic and archaic forms of the Persian fine art style developed under the Qajar dynasty (1794-1925). Aghdashlou then juxtaposes these traditional styles with modern painting by erasing the figure’s face and replacing it with a soft flesh tone blanket. The effort to bring together tradition and modernity first begins with the Saqqakhaneh School of artists in the early 1970s whose participants are described as “neo-traditional artists” and “spiritual pop artists,” instigating the search for a “genuine ‘Iranian’ style”. In the painting, Aghdashlou conforms to neither dominant school, but instead he produces a space where “different cultures [to] live side by side overlap and cross with one to a whole area of hybridization, unprecedented in the history of humanity” . In essence, for me—as a viewer from the west, an anthropologist, an art historian, and an ethnographer—Aghdashlou’s painting style embodies Iranian contemporary art and Iranian identity. But most importantly his work captures the journey towards the identity of the self or “bi-khodi” and “khod-shenasi”. To read more from this paper, email art historian, Madelyne Oliver, at: [email protected]TRANSCRIPT
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Aydin Aghdashlou: Painting his life story with power
Madelyne OliverAnthro 169 Modern Iran
Associate Professor Roxanne Varzi
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Thesis:I have chosen to couple Aydin Aghdashlou’s paintings with events and outside influences that document his life story. His paintings show absolute control and utlimate power as an artist who can juggle the methods of ‘destruction’ and other various themes that could not exist without the translation of the artist’s emotions onto the canvas.
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“A miniature after Reza Abbasi, 1980” from the
series “Meeting the Past”12” x 22” cm Gouache on
paper
“Feast in the Country”
Goache and gold on paper
Reza Abbasi, 1612
Replicating the Safavid style
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Replicating the Qajar style
“ End of an era III, 2005” from the series “Orientals: Memories
of Destruction”, 198057”x75” cm gouache and crayons
on board
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“Memories of Destruction, 2008”from the series
“Orientals: Memories of Destruction”, 1980
100”x75” cm gouache and crayons on board
“Portrait of Abbas Mirza”, 1820
Gouache and gold on paper
Hermitage Exhibition in Amsterdam, Netherlands
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The departure point of the journey to finding the self….Bottichelli…
“Identity , In praise of Sandro Bottichelli,
1975” from the series “Occidentals: Memories
of Destruction”57” x 75” cm
Gouache on board
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Destroying the manifesto of the artist by destroying the painting…
“Aydin Unlimited, 2006”
Arta Gallery Toronto, Canada Exhibition show
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“Lady in Red, 1977” from the series
“Occidentals: Memories of Destruction”60” x 80” cm
Gouache on board
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“Years of Fire and Snow, 1980” from the series “Occidentals:
Memories of Destruction”60” x 80” cm
Gouache on board
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“Situation VI, 1992” from the series
“Occidentals: Memories of Destruction”52” x 74” cm
Gouache on board
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“Crumpled miniature, 1980” from the series
“Orientals: Memories of Destruction”, 1980
57”x75” cm Gouache and Crayons on
board
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“Falling Angel, 2005” from the series
“Orientals: Memories of Destruction”, 1980
57”x75” cm Gouache on board
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“Memories of Destruction, 1980”
from the series “Orientals: Memories of Destruction”, 1980
57”x75” cm Gouache on board
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“Broken Beauty, 2006” from the series
“Orientals: Memories of Destruction”, 1980
57”x75” cm Gouache on board
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“Sura Hamd, The Koran, 1983” from the series “Meeting
the Past”34” x 45” cm
Gouache on board
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Poster for movie “Hadji Washington”,
1981 from series “Illustrations”50” x 70” cm
Gouache on paper
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Manifesto of the Artist; modes of destruction; beauty; love are embedded in the final production to narrate his life story and power as the Artist:
“My Mother’s Room, 1980” from
series“Orientals: Memories of
Destruction”, 1980 57”x75” cm
Goache and Crayons on board