A book of works by contemporary painter, Parvaneh Etemadi, will be published in fifty copies. The title of the book is ‘Moon and Fish’ and features ten drawings created by using etching techniques.
Two poems by Iranian poet Attar of Nishapur or Nishabur, a city in the Khorasan Razavi Province, are inscribed on the front and back cover, which roughly introduce the contents of the book; the title of the book is also derived from one of the poems. The book will be unveiled next month in Dubai’s contemporary JAMM art gallery. There will also be a ceremony to introduce it in Tehran. As only fifty copies will be made available, some enthusiasts have already registered to purchase the book.
There are transparent sheets between the drawings. The book cover is bound in cloth on which a small pocket has been sewn, and a booklet which is the book’s certificate of authenticity is placed inside. The booklet with the artist’s signature features all the works in the book.
The artist also has another collection on hand. She has designed jackets which represent fashion styles of the Qajar and Safavid eras and are adorned with inscriptions of the same periods. Clothing items with visual and conceptual significance have been created, with a focus on the rhythm of the inscriptions which are mostly royal commands.
Diverse Works
Her latest book is not her first experience with oriental arts and elements. Etemadi, a pioneer Iranian modernist, has frequently drawn upon oriental artistic elements in different phases of her artistic career. Although she started her professional career with abstract paintings alongside other artists such as Aydin Aghdashloo and Ghobad Shiva in Ghandriz Gallery more than five decades ago, she has also experimented with Japanese woodcuts and cloth collages, and collaborated with Indian artist Manjit Bawa on Indian myths. It seems as if she has constantly been in search of the uplifted modern human soul juxtaposed with all its material traits.
Her diverse body of work tells of her eventful life and she has always sought new mediums to express herself. Her works have been showcased in several group and solo exhibitions in Switzerland, Beijing, Paris, Los Angeles, Vancouver, and New Delhi.
