Khak Gallery in Tehran is offering a feast for the eyes with “ Color Intuition,’’ an exhibition featuring abstract paintings by Mohsen Vaziri Moghaddam. The exhibit showcases a collection of the recent works of the master painter created after he turned 90 this year. His new works show the promise and continuity of his art in spite of old age and visual impairment.
Vaziri Moghaddam who is one of the country’s foremost avant- garde artists is averse to repetition of themes in his works and is well-known for his experimentalism. His most recent exhibition is proof that he has kept his signature style – which is to appear different to his audience every time he presents an exhibition. He seems “to have grown and changed with the ebb and flow of his artistic experiences,” reports honaronline.
The nonagenarian has so far experimented with many forms on the canvas such as ‘moving figurines’ that can change their shapes, ‘sand paintings’ and paintings of ‘moving pictures.’
This is the second art exhibition of his works in the current year after a long hiatus. The first opened on Nov 7, which was a collection of his selected works throughout the years. But the current exhibition comprises his works that were all created in 2014.
Radiant
‘Color Intuition’ is a celebration of colors “dancing on the walls of the gallery.” The paintings which range from 30cm to 1m in dimension are all in acrylic. A highlight is the delicate features that Vaziri Moghaddam’s paintbrush has so masterfully transferred on the canvases- variegated features inspired by his fevered imagination.
The sprightly movement of the colors is heightened by each color being juxtaposed in a seamless fashion next to the other. The liveliness of the colors brings the abstract paintings to life, communicating a natural energy, invoking a phantasmagoria of images in the viewer.
This elusive and ineffable sense is the pervasive theme of the exhibit, leaving the viewer “in a whirlwind of geometric fireworks that escape any classification.” One can see vestiges of the artist’s past experiments in miniature. The wild shapes create a symphony that can only be projected and fathomed in parallel with the cosmos.
Extraordinary
Medi Hosseini, a painter and art critic said about the exhibition: ‘’we are beholding an extraordinary art show, for despite being 90 years old, Vaziri’s works are radiating with vibrancy, energy and a novel expression. Hosseini said he was fascinated by the scale of the works created in such a short period of time by Moghaddam.
‘’ When I consider the fact that Picasso’s output rate in later years of his life was low, I am astonished to see Moghaddam so active at his age, and in spite of his visual problems,’’ said Hosseini.
Born in 1924, Vaziri Moghaddam received his Diploma of Fine Arts from the University of Tehran. In 1955 he moved to Italy for further studies. In 1958, he was awarded Diploma of Fine Arts from Accademia di Belle Arti of Rome. In 1964 he returned to Tehran as professor of art at the Faculty of Decorative Arts and Faculty of Fine Arts of Tehran University.
