Iranian origin artists, Sahand Hesamiyan and Shahpour Pouyan, are shortlisted as the finalists for the 4th edition of Jameel Prize.
Over 280 nominations were submitted from Afghanistan, Mali, Puerto Rico and Thailand, among which only 11 artists and designers made it to the final round, the Persian art magazine ‘Tandis’ reported.
Hesamiyan is a sculptor whose work presents a contemporary interpretation of traditional Iranian geometrical shapes. He will show two works, which demonstrate the way “he dissects Iranian architectural forms into freestanding sculptures.” He will also show the imposing steel work Nail, created in 2012, an emblematic and arresting symbol of the crucifixion.
Pouyan works with different media including ceramics and metalwork. The decorative nature of his work is inspired by traditional Islamic art and allows interpretation from different perspectives. His series of ceramics ‘Unthinkable Thought’ (2014) shows different forms of architectural structures long used as expressions of power.
David Chalmers Alesworth, Rasheed Araeen, Lara Assouad, CANAN, Cevdet Erek, Lucia Koch, Ghulam Mohammad, Wael Shawky and Bahia Shehab are the other finalists.
The Jameel Prize is an international award launched by Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Estimated to be $36,000, the prize was first awarded in 2009 and is held every two years, when work by the finalists is shown in an international touring exhibition.
The exhibition will open on June 8 and run until August 14 at the Pera Museum in Istanbul, Turkey.
Pouyan, 35, holds a master’s of fine arts degree in New Forms from Pratt Institute of New York and an MFA degree in painting, from the Tehran University of Art. He recently completed an MFA in Integrated Practices and New Forms at Pratt Institute, New York.
He won the Finalist and Second Art Cycle Prize in the US (2013) and prize for Pegasus Art Foundation residency and workshop in Rock Art Gallery, Hyderabad (2011).
Hesamiyan, 38, received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture from Tehran University. He was a member of the managing board for the Sixth Tehran Contemporary Sculpture Biennial and on the judging panel for the Third Tehran Urban Sculpture Biennial; he participated in the inaugural biennial for Urban Space in 2008. Hesamiyan’s works had been featured at Aun, Mohsen and Aaran art galleries in Tehran.
