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Lot Essay
One of the most acclaimed international artists today, Farhad Moshiri returned to Tehran in 1991 after studying in the prestigious CalArts in California. He has since become an iconic figure of the contemporary Middle Eastern art scene and is known for his constant innovation in the use of art techniques, from mimicking aged Persian ceramics to interpreting the Abjad alphabet, from making installations with acrylic 'pastries' to others entirely embroidered with beads and pearls, from incorporating Swarovksi crystals to his compositions to producing art pieces solely composed of knives.
The rich variety of Moshiri's oeuvre not only lies in his creativeness as both a painter and a conceptual artist, but also in the eclectic richness of his visual vocabulary, where past and present meet. Reconciling the ancient with the modern is at the core of Farhad Moshiri's oeuvre, yet his works are always imbued with his self-refection and his observation of present life in Iran.
With his signature glazed craquelure present throughout his composition, Moshiri subtly alludes to his fascination with the Arabic Abjad alphabet, a symbolic language of numbers and signs which contains magical meanings and codes. The present work, an outstanding example made with gold leaf and a variety of colour pigments, recalls the lavish ancient Persian ceramic objects and vessels that he collected and simultaneously reference the calligraphy found on manuscripts and talismanic garments in the Ottoman territories that were used to confer blessings and protection to the wearer. By spreading this script over the canvas and having it bleed over the edges, Moshiri seems to have magnified a small fragment of these lavish objects reproduced onto his canvas. The result is an almost graffiti-like work made of endlessly repeated numbers, that draws inspiration in past, yet is undeniably Pop.
While the gold leaf evokes his homeland's glorious history, it also sarcastically alludes to the materialistic excesses that Moshiri observes in today's consumer's society, particularly amongst the nouveau riche society in Iran and as such, epitomises the constant dualities that have been central in Moshiri's artistic refection. A fine example from his Numeral series, the present work delicately combines a variety of Moshiri's inspiration and cultural references. Further works from this series
are now held in important private and public collections around the globe.
The rich variety of Moshiri's oeuvre not only lies in his creativeness as both a painter and a conceptual artist, but also in the eclectic richness of his visual vocabulary, where past and present meet. Reconciling the ancient with the modern is at the core of Farhad Moshiri's oeuvre, yet his works are always imbued with his self-refection and his observation of present life in Iran.
With his signature glazed craquelure present throughout his composition, Moshiri subtly alludes to his fascination with the Arabic Abjad alphabet, a symbolic language of numbers and signs which contains magical meanings and codes. The present work, an outstanding example made with gold leaf and a variety of colour pigments, recalls the lavish ancient Persian ceramic objects and vessels that he collected and simultaneously reference the calligraphy found on manuscripts and talismanic garments in the Ottoman territories that were used to confer blessings and protection to the wearer. By spreading this script over the canvas and having it bleed over the edges, Moshiri seems to have magnified a small fragment of these lavish objects reproduced onto his canvas. The result is an almost graffiti-like work made of endlessly repeated numbers, that draws inspiration in past, yet is undeniably Pop.
While the gold leaf evokes his homeland's glorious history, it also sarcastically alludes to the materialistic excesses that Moshiri observes in today's consumer's society, particularly amongst the nouveau riche society in Iran and as such, epitomises the constant dualities that have been central in Moshiri's artistic refection. A fine example from his Numeral series, the present work delicately combines a variety of Moshiri's inspiration and cultural references. Further works from this series
are now held in important private and public collections around the globe.