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Lot Essay
Starting in the early 1980s, Koorosh Shishegaran concentrated on linear paintings and broke away from his earlier political and conceptual works. Shishegaran's now signature style has roots in his long search within Iranian visual culture in which Persian calligraphy plays a major role. The use of stripes in his compositions is, in fact, inspired by movements of a calligraphy reed pen. Shishegaran intensifies this vision of volume with his grouping of tones in different layers, filling the underlying surface to instigate a profound sense of depth.
By 1992, when Shishegaran had held his most prestigious exhibition at the Golestan Gallery in Tehran, he had mastered his unique style, representing the peak of his career. The present work, probably the largest canvas of that exhibition, can be considered as one of the greatest works that the artist has ever produced. It is also one the most colourful compositions of his stylistically minimalist painting. At first glance, it seems to be an accidental or improvised doodle, however on closer view, it proves to be an elaborate art of extreme control, great balance, artistic maturity, strong craftsmanship and delicate composition of forms and colours.
Through his carefully organised chaos, Shishegaran aims to conjure up the image of 'portrait' as the main element of the composition, formed mainly by black stripes in the right half of the canvas Shishegaran uses portraits as a medium to convey an underlying message to his audience. By presenting the figures in an abstract form, he distances himself from the subject of the work and avoids imposing any personal impression on the viewer. As a technique to balance the empowering feature, the artist incorporates a shadow of the figure in the centre, formed by lines of bright grey tones. He then implements surfaces of deep yellow to complement and balance the colour tones of the composition. Shishegaran's idea is to create a heightened visual energy and dynamism that invokes the inquisitive mind of the viewer and questions why he chooses to depict his portrait struggling within a heap of entangled lines and strips.
By 1992, when Shishegaran had held his most prestigious exhibition at the Golestan Gallery in Tehran, he had mastered his unique style, representing the peak of his career. The present work, probably the largest canvas of that exhibition, can be considered as one of the greatest works that the artist has ever produced. It is also one the most colourful compositions of his stylistically minimalist painting. At first glance, it seems to be an accidental or improvised doodle, however on closer view, it proves to be an elaborate art of extreme control, great balance, artistic maturity, strong craftsmanship and delicate composition of forms and colours.
Through his carefully organised chaos, Shishegaran aims to conjure up the image of 'portrait' as the main element of the composition, formed mainly by black stripes in the right half of the canvas Shishegaran uses portraits as a medium to convey an underlying message to his audience. By presenting the figures in an abstract form, he distances himself from the subject of the work and avoids imposing any personal impression on the viewer. As a technique to balance the empowering feature, the artist incorporates a shadow of the figure in the centre, formed by lines of bright grey tones. He then implements surfaces of deep yellow to complement and balance the colour tones of the composition. Shishegaran's idea is to create a heightened visual energy and dynamism that invokes the inquisitive mind of the viewer and questions why he chooses to depict his portrait struggling within a heap of entangled lines and strips.