An art book by veteran artist Pariyoush Ganji will be internationally unveiled this fall. An exhibition of her one decade of paintings is underway at Tehran’s Aryana Gallery.
The exhibition ‘Windows’ includes Ganji’s works of her different collections in the past 10 years. A number of paintings belong to the series ‘Red’ portraying differences in social view points. “Everyone has a window in his/her mind through which he/she looks outside.”
Several of her paintings are selected from the ‘Day, Night Windows’ series. “The works are composed of several layers signifying life flowing through the being,” she said, quoted by ISNA.
The paintings feature complicated social issues “which have always influenced my works.” The color white is in focus in a number of paintings reflecting “glimmers of hope” in people’s life.
‘River’ is also the theme in several of her collections. “Rivers attract my attention due to their unique characteristics, especially at night.” Relaxing and pleasing during the daytime they become mysterious and scary at night, reflecting the lights.
Her paintings often focus on landscapes, nature, trees, flowers, women, faceless people and windows, and include abstracts and portraits. She is inclined to abstract and expressionism styles of paintings. The exhibition will run through July 23.
Formal Education
Ganji, 60, completed her formal art education at the Girl’s School of Fine Arts, where she majored in painting under the guidance of Reza Firouzi and Mahmoud Farshchian, famous Iranian miniaturist. She also learnt textile designing and painting from her father.
Her contact with London’s art institutions, participation in classes at St. Martin’s School of Fine Arts and the open arts program at Sir John Cass Art School, broadened her artistic outlook. In 1970 she continued her studies at Chelsea School of Fine Arts, graduating in 1973. Her thesis on the Safavid tiles of Isfahan was inspired by original Iranian designs and paintings.
In 1974, she traveled to Germany and was hired as designer for Dura Tufting GMBH, a major carpet and textile factory in Fulda, where she was quickly promoted to senior designer. Her close contact with European expressionist painters in general and German pioneers’ color experiments in particular, brought fresh inspiration and widened her artistic skills and technique.
In 1986, Ganji returned to Iran for good and took up teaching in a number of art schools and universities in Tehran. In 1997, she was invited to Japan, by the Japan Foundation to research the visual art of Far East and to know how it has been influenced by Sassanid patterns through the Silk Road.
Most of her modern works feature in private collections and some in international museums.
Int’l Exhibitions
She has held numerous individual and group exhibitions in England, Germany, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabi, USA and Uzbekistan.
Ganji is art professor in Al-Zahra University of Tehran, Faculty of Art in Textile Design Department in the Art University of Tehran, Faculty of Art and Design in Tehran’s Azad University and Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization.
She has worked on several collections ‘Day, Night Windows’ (2012), ‘Day, Night Windows’ (2010), ‘Roses’ (2006), ‘Windows Red’ (2003), ‘Sumi-e, Ink Paintings’ (2000-2012) and ‘Windows, Memories of Childhood’ (1997-2007).
Her exhibitions were held at Luci Makintosh Gallery in Switzerland in 2012, Bank Art Museum in Japan in 2006, Museum of Art and Science in USA in 2003 and National Museum of Tashkent in Uzbekistan in 1999. She has also curated 20 solo exhibitions in several countries including Iran, England, Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland.
