Parviz Tanavoli Explained

Parviz Tanavoli
Birth Name:Parviz Tanavoli
Birth Date:24 March 1937
Birth Place:Tehran, Pahlavi Iran
Movement:Saqqakhaneh School of Art
Hurufiyya movement
Education:Tehran School of Fine Arts
Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara,
Brera Academy
Occupation:Artist, art historian, educator
Known For:Sculpture, painting
Works:The Wall (Oh Persepolis)
Heech

Parviz Tanavoli (Persian: پرویز تناولی; born 1937) is an Iranian sculptor, painter, educator, and art historian. He is a pioneer within the Saqqakhaneh School of Art,[1] a neo-traditionalist art movement.[2] Tanavoli has been one of the most expensive Iranian artists in sales.[3] Tanavoli series of sculpture work are displayed in prestigious museums and public places, such as the British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Hamline University, Aga Khan Museum, and as public art in the city of Vancouver. Additionally Tanavoli has written extensively on this history of Persian art and Persian crafts. Since 1989, Tanavoli has held dual nationality and has lived and worked both in Tehran, and Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver, British Columbia.[4] [5]

Early life and education

Parviz Tanavoli was born 24 March 1937 in Tehran.[6] In 1952, he started his education at the Tehran School of Fine Arts (now part of the University of Tehran). He continued his studies in Italy at the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara (Italian: Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara) in 1956 to 1957; as well as at Brera Academy (Italian: Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera) in Milan from 1958 to 1959 .[7] He studied under sculptor Mariano Marini.

Upon graduating from the Brera Academy in 1959, he returned to Iran in 1960 and taught sculpting at the College of Decorative Arts in Tehran.

Career

Teaching

Upon his return to Iran, he started teaching at the Tehran College of Decorative Arts, where he was also a founding member. Many pioneers of Iranian modern art, such as Zenderoudi, studied under him at this college. From February 1961 to 1964, Tanavoli taught sculpture for three years at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, as a guest of art collector Abby Grey.[8] He then returned to Iran and assumed the directorship of the sculpture department at the Tehran University (now University of Tehran), a position he held for 18 years until 1979 when he retired from his teaching duties.

In addition to his tenure as a sculpture professor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design from 1961 to 1964 and his 18-year directorship of the sculpture department at Tehran University, Tanavoli has continued to teach and mentor young artists. Tanavoli's newest "heeches" exhibition, titled "All and Nothing," was held at Tehran's Art Space Gallery from July 6 to August 3, 2022. The exhibition showcased the works of 40 of his students and his own newest "heeches," which are among his most recognized works.[9] [10]

Artwork

He is the main figure and the key member of the Saqqakhaneh group of artists who share a common popular aesthetic, according to the scholar Karim Emami.[11] He has been influenced heavily by his country's history and culture, and traditions and has always been fascinated with locksmithing. Tanavoli was once a cultural advisor to the Shahbanu Farah Pahlavi. Tanavoli is known for his es, three-dimensional representations of the Persian word for 'nothing', . Composed of three Persian characters in the style of nasta'liq, the three letters he, ye and če are combined to produce the word .[12] \

In 2003, Tanavoli turned his Tehran house into the "Museum of Parviz Tanavoli," showcasing his personal art collection, which was only open for a few months due to political issues in Iran.

Rasht 29 Club

In 1967, Tanavoli, Kamran Diba, and Roxana Saba (daughter of Abolhasan Saba) founded the Rasht 29 Club on a northern street near the Amirkabir University of Technology (formerly the Tehran Polytechnic).[13] [14] Rasht 29 Club was named after the street address, and it was a popular hangout amongst artists of the time including Marcos Grigorian, Hossein Zenderoudi, Sadegh Tabrizi, Faramarz Pilaram, Sohrab Sepehri, Massoud Arabshahi, Yadollah Royai, Nader Naderpour, Reza Baraheni, Esmail Shahroudi, Ahmadreza Ahmadi, Bijan Elahi, Ebrahim Golestan, Hageer Daruish, Kamran Shirdel, Sadeq Chubak, Karl Schlamminger, and others.

Sales

Tanavoli's work has been auctioned worldwide, leading to over $9 million in overall sales, making him the most expensive living Iranian artist.[15] In 2008, his work, The Wall (Oh Persepolis), an almost 2-meter tall bronze sculpture covered in incomprehensible hieroglyphs fetched USD 2.84 million at a Dubai Christie's sale, which was an auction record for an artist of Middle Eastern origins.[16] [17]

Exhibitions

The most recent solo exhibition of Parviz Tanavoli, "Parviz Tanavoli: Poets, Locks, Cages",[18] took place from July 1, 2023, to November 19, 2023, showcasing a comprehensive range of his works spanning six decades. This exhibition, held at Vancouver Art Gallery, provided a thorough retrospective of his career.[19] [20] [21]

Prior to this, his solo exhibition was in 2019 at the West Vancouver Art Museum entitled "Oh Nightingale". Before that, he had another solo exhibition in 2017 at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art based on his Lions works and Lion collection.[22]

In 2015, after four decades, Davis Museum at Wellesley College organized the first solo exhibition of Tanavoli's work in the US.

In 2003 he had a major retrospective at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. Prior to that he had held solo exhibitions in Austria, Italy, Germany, United States and Britain. Tanavoli has been in group exhibitions internationally.

His work has been displayed at the Tate Modern, British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Grey Art Gallery - New York University, the Isfahan City Center, Nelson Rockefeller Collection, New York, Olympic Park, Seoul, South Korea, the Royal Museum of Jordan, the Museum of Modern Art, Vienna, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Hamline University, St. Paul[23] and Shiraz University, Iran.[24]

Politics and art

In 2005, he created a small piece of sculpture called Heech in a Cage to protest the conditions of the American-held prisoners at Guantanamo Bay detainment camp and in 2006, began work on his piece to honor the victims of the Israeli-Lebanon war.

A day before Tanavoli was due to speak at the British Museum in 2016, authorities in Iran confiscated his passport, preventing him from leaving the country, accusing him of "disturbing the public peace". Tanavoli explained that "I have not done anything wrong. I spent the whole day at the passport office, but no one told me anything, nor did anyone at the airport. I'm not a political person, I'm merely an artist."

Honors and legacy

In 2015, the biographical documentary film, Parviz Tanavoli: Poetry in Bronze, was released. It was directed by Terrence Turner and produced by Timothy Turner and Tandis Tanavoli.[25] [26]

In October 2020, the former Mina Street in the Niavaran neighborhood was renamed Parviz Tanavoli by the municipality of Tehran.

Bibliography

Authored or co-authored by Tanavoli

Tanavoli has authored over forty publications dating back over four decades. Among these are:

On Tanavoli

Films, books, catalogs and magazines on Parviz Tanavoli

This book, in English and Arabic, was published once and for all in a limited edition of 1000 volumes, each with a unique number, in 2010 with the support of the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi, Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and was purchased by famous collectors and libraries.

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Foundation . Encyclopaedia Iranica . Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica . 2024-03-19 . iranicaonline.org . en-US.
  2. Web site: Dehghan . Saeed Kamali . 2016-07-02 . Renowned Iranian artist Parviz Tanavoli barred from leaving the country, the artist was due to fly to London to speak at the British Museum but had his passport confiscated without explanation . 2022-03-24 . . en . 1756-3224.
  3. Web site: Dehghan . Saeed Kamali . 2016-01-01 . Parviz Tanavoli: Iranian artist who made something out of nothing . 2022-03-24 . . en.
  4. Web site: Muñoz-Alonso . Lorena . 2016-07-04 . Iranian Officials Seize Parviz Tanavoli's Passport . 2022-03-24 . Artnet News . en-US.
  5. News: Lederman . Marsha . 2015-02-20 . Master of bronze Parviz Tanavoli strives for recognition on home soil . en-CA . The Globe and Mail . 2022-03-24.
  6. Web site: Tate . Parviz Tanavoli born 1937 . 2024-03-07 . Tate . en-GB.
  7. Book: Bloom . Jonathan . Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture: Three-Volume Set . Blair . Sheila S. . Blair . Sheila . 2009-05-14 . OUP USA . 978-0-19-530991-1 . 268–269 . en.
  8. Book: Porter . Venetia . Metalwork and Material Culture in the Islamic World: Art, Craft, and Text . Rosser-Owen . Mariam . 2012-06-29 . Bloomsbury Publishing . 978-0-85773-343-6 . 486 . en.
  9. Web site: Shima . Shahmiri . July 26, 2018 . Celebrated Sculptor Parviz Tanavoli: They Can't Stop Me .
  10. Web site: تناولي و 40 سال هنرآموزي . 2023-04-03 . شرق . fa.
  11. Ekhtiar, Maryam; Rooney, Julia (April 2014). "Artists of the Saqqakhana Movement (1950s–60s)". Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art. metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
  12. Web site: Standing heech . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170204170242/http://www.nms.ac.uk/explore/stories/world-cultures/standing-heech/ . 4 February 2017 . National Museums Scotland . en . 3 February 2017.
  13. Book: Grigor, Talinn . Contemporary Iranian Art: From the Street to the Studio . 2014-06-15 . Reaktion Books . 978-1-78023-309-3 . en.
  14. Web site: Mohebbi . Sohrab . Rasht 29: A cultural oasis in central Tehran . 2022-03-24 . Bidoun, Issue 20 . en . 1551-4048.
  15. Web site: .:: Art Tomorrow Magazine ::. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131105212700/http://www.artomorrow.com/eng/index.asp?page=49&id=206 . 2013-11-05 . www.artomorrow.com.
  16. Web site: Niknejad . Golnoush . April 26, 2009 . Oh Persepolis . 2022-03-24 . Frontline, Tehran Bureau . en.
  17. Web site: 2008-05-02 . Sculpture sets auction record . 2022-03-24 . . en-US . 0458-3035.
  18. Web site: Parviz Tanavoli: Poets, Locks, Cages . www.vanartgallery.bc.ca.
  19. Web site: Thomson . John . 2023-07-31 . Sculpture Meets Poetry . 2023-12-13 . Galleries West . en-ca.
  20. Web site: 2023-07-29 . West Van artist known as 'Father of modern Iranian sculpture' featured at VAG . 2023-12-13 . North Shore News . en.
  21. Web site: Parviz Tanavoli: Poets, Locks, Cages . 2023-12-13 . www.vanartgallery.bc.ca.
  22. Web site: 2017-06-18 . Tanavoli’s Works at TMoCA After 17 Years . 2024-03-07 . Financial Tribune . En.
  23. Web site: The Heech Photos of Exhibition on Hamline Campus Hamline University. .
  24. News: Harouni. Shadi. Parviz Tanavoli: plenty of 'nothing' - exhibition. 3 February 2017. The Guardian. 10 February 2015.
  25. Web site: Photos: Sculptor Parviz Tanavoli and students reunite at Tehran's Boom gallery . 2022-03-24 . Payvand.com.
  26. Web site: 2017-11-05 . Sculptor Parviz Tanavoli and students reunite at Tehran gallery . 2022-03-24 . Tehran Times . en.

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