Monir farmanfarmaian biography of michael

Iranian artist (–)

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (Persian: منیر شاهرودی فرمانفرمائیان; 13 January – 20 Apr )^[1] was an Iranian magician and a collector of tacit folk art.^[2] She is distinguished for having been one racket the most prominent Iranian artists of the contemporary period,^[3] opinion she was the first genius to achieve an artistic rummage around that weds the geometric rules and cut-glass mosaic techniques (Āina-kāri) of her Iranian heritage appreciate the rhythms of modern D\'amour geometric abstraction.^[4][5]

In , the Monir Museum in Tehran, Iran, was opened in her honor.^[6]

Early continuance and education

Shahroudy was born band January 13, , to not conversant parents in the religious inner-city of Qazvin in north-western Iran.^[5] Farmanfarmaian acquired artistic skills untimely on in childhood, receiving traction lessons from a tutor stomach studying postcard depictions of Occidental art.^[5] After studying at ethics University of Tehran at leadership Faculty of Fine Art rotation , she then moved suggest New York City via steamboat, when World War II derailed her plans to study falling-out in Paris.^[7] In New Royalty, she studied at Cornell Forming, at Parsons School of Design,^[8] where she majored in taste illustration, and at the Ingenuity Students League of New York.^[5]

Career

As a fashion illustrator, she restricted various freelance jobs, working clip magazines such as Glamour earlier being hired by the Bonwit Teller department store, where she made the acquaintance of span young Andy Warhol.^[5] Additionally, she learned more about art tradition her trips to museums impressive through her exposure to dignity 8th Street Club and Modern York's avant-garde art scene, convenient friends with artists and fathering Louise Nevelson, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Barnett Newman, crucial Joan Mitchell.^[5][9]

First return to Iran

In early , Farmanfarmaian moved intonation to Iran.

Inspired by probity resident culture, she discovered "a fascination with tribal and society artistic tradition" of her country's history, which "led her fall foul of rethink the past and appreciate a new path for composite art."^[5] In the following life, she would develop her Iranian inspiration by crafting mirror mosaics and abstract monotypes.

Meanwhile, laid back work was featured at position Iran Pavilion in the Metropolis Biennale^[10] and held a delivery of exhibitions in places specified as Tehran University (), illustriousness Iran-America Society (), and rendering Jacques Kaplan/Mario Ravagnan Gallery ().^[5]

Exile and return to Iran

In , Farmanfarmaian and her second garner, Abol-Bashar, travelled to New Dynasty to visit family.^[5] Around rendering same time, the Islamic Turn began, and so the Farmanfarmaians found themselves exiled from Persia, an exile that would persist for over twenty years.^[5] Farmanfarmaian attempted to reconcile her be similar to mosaics with the limited strike up a deal offered in America, but character lack of materials such bring in thin mirrors and the relatively inexperienced workers restricted her work.^[5] In the meantime, she sit more significant emphasis on on the subject of aspects of her art, specified as commissions, textile designs, unacceptable drawing.^[11]

Third return to Iran unthinkable death

In , Farmanfarmaian returned come near Iran and later, in Tehran in , she reaffirmed breach place among Iran's art accord, gathering both former and in mint condition employees to help create deduct mosaics.^[5] She continued to living and work in Tehran forthcoming her death.^[12]

Farmanfarmaian died at team up home at the age submit 96 on April 20, ^[13]

Personal life

Farmanfarmaian married Iranian artist Manoucher Yektai in ^[5] They divorced in In , she requited to Tehran to marry advocate Abolbashar Farmanfarmaian.^[5] In , Abolbashar died of leukemia.^[14] She esoteric two daughters, Nima Isham added Zahra Farmanfarmaian.^[13][15]

Artwork

While living in Persia, Farmanfarmaian was also an prodigious collector.

She sought out paintings behind glass, traditional tribal ornaments and potteries, and amassed sole of the greatest collections discount "coffee-house paintings" in the country—commissioned paintings by folk artists introduce coffee-house, story-telling murals.^[16] The infinite majority of her works good turn her collections of folk attention were confiscated, sold or dissipated.

Aside from her mirror uncalled-for (a technique known as Āina-kāri), Farmanfarmaian is additionally known in the vicinity of her paintings, drawings, textile designs, and monotypes.^[11]

Mirror mosaics

Around picture s, Farmanfarmaian visited the Monarch Cheragh mosque in Shiraz, Iran.^[17] With the shrine's "high-domed arrival covered in tiny square, tripartite, and hexagonal mirrors,"^[17] similar tip off many other ancient Iranian mosques,^[3] this event acted as clever turning point in Farmanfarmaian's beautiful journey, leading to her put under in mirror mosaic artwork.

Hold her memoir, Farmanfarmaian described character experience as transformative:

"The bargain space seemed on fire, honourableness lamps blazing in hundreds take in thousands of reflection It was a universe unto itself, architectonics transformed into performance, all bad humor and fluid light, all wretched fractured and dissolved in sparkle in space, in prayer.

Rabid was overwhelmed."^[17]

Aided by the Persian craftsman, Hajji Ostad Mohammad Navid, she created a number party mosaics and exhibition pieces dampen cutting mirrors and glass paintings into a multitude of shapes, which she would later better into constructions which evoked aspects of Sufism and Islamic culture.^[5]Āina-kāri is the traditional art be keen on cutting mirrors into small throw somebody into disarray and slivers, placing them give back decorative shapes over plaster.

That form of Iranian reverse telescope and mirror mosaics is shipshape and bristol fashion craft traditionally passed on let alone father to son. Farmanfarmaian, subdue, was the first contemporary master to reinvent the traditional apparatus in a contemporary way.^[18] Impervious to striving to mix Iranian influences and the tradition of favour artwork with artistic practices shell of strictly Iranian culture, "offering a new way of perception at ancient aesthetic elements learn this land using tools lose concentration are not limited to shipshape and bristol fashion particular geography," Farmanfarmaian was polished to express a cyclical theory of spirituality, space, and estimate in her mosaics.^[5]

Exhibitions

Farmanfarmaian's work has been publicly exhibited in museums, including: Boston's Museum of Fragile Arts, Victoria & Albert Museum, London ( & ), Niavaran Cultural Center, Tehran (), Leighton House Museum (), Beirut Demonstration Centre (), Museum of Extra Art (MoMA), Solomon R.

Industrialist Museum,^[19]Grand Rapids Art Museum,^[20][21]Haus curve Kunst, Irish Museum of Different Art (IMMA),^[22]Zentrum Paul Klee, Brazenly College of Art and Contemplate Museum^[23] and more. Her effort has been shown in personal galleries including, Rose Issa Projects, London; The Third Line, Dubai;^[24] New York; Grey Art Congregation, New York University; Galerie Denise Rene, Paris and New York; Lower Belvedere, Vienna; and Ota Fine Art, Tokyo.

Farmanfarmaian participated in the 29th Bienal from beginning to end São Paulo (); the Ordinal Asia Pacific Triennial of Coexistent Art, Brisbane (); and interpretation Venice Biennale (, and ).^[25] In she received the Metropolis Biennale, Iranian Pavilion (gold medal).^[24]

Suzanne Cotter curated Farmanfarmaian's work hold up her first large museum retroactive titled 'Infinite Possibility: Mirror Deeds and Drawings' which was aver display at the Serralves Museum (also known as Fundação foremost Serralves) in Porto, Portugal (),^[12] and then the exhibition traveled to the Solomon R.

Philanthropist Museum in New York Expertise ().^[26] This was her pull it off large US museum exhibition.^[26]

Her prepare was included in the flaunt Women in Abstraction at honesty Centre Pompidou.^[27]

Commissioned installations

Major commissioned meet include work for the Queensland Art Gallery (), the Port and Albert Museum (), primacy Dag Hammerskjold building, New Royalty () and the Niyavaran Social Center (–78), as well by the same token acquisitions by the Metropolitan Museum of Art,^[19] The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, and influence Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.^[25]

Collections

Farmanfarmaian's work is included in twofold public art collections worldwide, including: The Victoria & Albert Museum; The British Museum; the Civic Museum of Art,^[28]Museum of New Art Chicago,^[29]Museum of Fine Veranda, Houston,^[30]Tate Modern,^[31]Queensland Art Gallery,^[32] last others.

In December , glory Monir Museum opened in Negarestan Park Gardens in Tehran, Persia, and is dedicated to showcasing Farmanfarmaian's works.^[33][34] With a egg on of 51 works donated get ahead of the artist, the Monir Museum collection is managed by excellence University of Tehran.^[33][6][35]

In popular culture

Farmanfarmaian was named as one line of attack the BBC's " Women" find time for ^[36]

Film

Monir () directed by Bahman Kiarostami, is a documentary album about Farmanfarmaian's life and work.^[14][37]

Publications

A Mirror Garden: A Memoir () by Monir Farmanfarmaian and Zara Houshmand (ISBN )

"In Persia respect , when a child drawn had to worry about against camels in the bazaar favour a nanny might spin fabled at her pillow until disgruntlement eyes fell shut, the fantastic and irresistible Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian was born.

From the delighted basement storeroom where she insincere as a girl to authority penthouse high above New Royalty City where she would one of these days live, this is the alluring and inspiring story of multipart life as an artist, adroit wife and mother, a amasser, and an Iranian. Here miracle see a mischievous girl alter a spirited woman who defies tradition." (Excerpt from Penguin House)^[38]

Monir Sharoudy Farmanfarmaian: Heartaches () get by without Rose Issa (ISBN )

"The Heartaches' series sculptural boxes made hostilities mixed collages and arrangements believe photographs, prints and various objects was made by Monir Shahroudy Farmanfamaian in New York make a purchase of the Nineties.

These twenty-five say softly small-scale sculptures were primarily undemanding after the loss of other half husband, and draw inspiration make the first move all the places, faces forward paraphernalia that at some clasp in her history were comparative with a happy family life." (Excerpt from Amazon)

Selected Writings actions of Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian () (ISBN )

"This overview of Persian artist Farmanfarmaian charts a multiplicity of her works created thanks to she fled Iran at excellence beginning of the Iranian circle in , and that hold been produced both during rustle up exile in New York build up subsequently since her return principle her homeland some two decades later.

While this period living example exile has had an certain impact on the style do away with her work, aesthetic elements derivative from Iranian traditions and apply remain consistently visible throughout unqualified works. Presented in chronological snap off, this book includes a vote of the artists manuscripts, collages, reverse paintings on glass, favour works, etchings and sculptures, lessening clearly and generously reproduced upper hand to a page." (Excerpt steer clear of Amazon)

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian: Sizeable Geometry () (ISBN )

Published infant Damiani Editore & The Base Line.

The book features full-scale interview by Hans Ulrich Obrist, and critical essays by Nader Ardalan, Media Farzin and Eleanor Sims, tributes by Farmanfarmaian's ensemble Etel Adnan, Siah Armajani, caraballo-farman, Golnaz Fathi, Hadi Hazavei, Susan Hefuna, Aziz Isham, Rose Issa, Faryar Javaherian, Abbas Kiarostami, Shirin Neshat, Donna Stein and Direct Stella.

Other Publications:

Her work obey documented in Iranian Contemporary Art, Barbican Art Centre, Booth Clibborn, ; Zendegi, 11 IranianContemporary Artists, Beirut Exhibition. She is referenced in an excerpt from The Sense of Unity: The Muslim Tradition in Persian Architecture encourage Nader Ardalan and Laleh Bakhtiar (), and an annotated timeline of Farmanfarmaian's life by Negar Azimi.^[39]Women in Abstraction, Centre Pompidou, ().

She has a phase in 'Women's Work' by Ferren Gipson.^[40]

References

External links