.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Christie’s presents two early works from the iconic Jar series of the Iranian artist Farhad Moshiri. The evolution of his jar series since 2001 shows his early depictions of a jars as Iranian clay vessels in earth tones, patinas and weather textures such as the present works. Moshiri’s oeuvre encompasses one of the most interdisciplinary series of a practice that includes embroidery, acrylic pastries, Swarovski crystals, kitchen knives and classical bowls and jars. Some are produced without any writings, while are others decorated with traditional Iranian proverbs and poetic stanzas, from bumper sticker slogans, cheesy pop-song lyrics, and the calls of street vendors, symbolizing a literally ‘jarring’ approach to juxtaposing seemingly disparate time and place and becoming a personal idiosyncratic expression of an explorative artist.
Moshiri’s works draw influences from Pop Art, Conceptual and traditional iconography of his native Iran, critiquing on the pervasive Western influence in his homeland and bringing questions of identity and authenticity in his work. With kitschy expressions, his recurring jars reveal his fascination with archaeology and Persian history and Western culture with titles such as the present work You Left All Alone But Your Love Remained inscribed in nasta’aliq, an ornate, stately and calligraphic script used in writing the Persian alphabet. As the artist states ‘My mission in life was always to escape reality, and art was going to be my ticket. When I sense my work looks too serious, I feel I can’t breathe and have to poke a few holes in the canvas to let the hot air out’ (D. Nasser-Khadivi & F. Rahim Ismail, Farhad Moshiri, Milan, 2016, Vol. I, p. 52).
Iran boasts a heavy history of jars, from the Susa’s 6000 years ago to Sassanian vessels predating Islam to the advanced wares of 13th century Seljuq pots and to the 17th century Safavids. However just as their vast history serves as a framework for ancient times, the contemporary Iranian culture was plagued by a superficial and commercially driven artifice. Moshiri aims to reflect this cultural element within his works, his Jars regarded as ‘antiquities in the broadest sense of the word’ considering them ‘as remnants of a buried past unearthed to a contemporary view’ both physically and symbolically, through the decayed painting technique and the symbol of the jar as emblematic of his country’s past (D. Nasser-Khadivi & F. Rahim Ismail, Farhad Moshiri, Milan, 2016, Vol. I, p. 50).
To depict this decay, Moshiri experimented with weathered textures of his jars, through a process akin to the techniques art dealers would touch up to works by 19th century Qajar oil portraits, as he would readily see while strolling through Tehran’s antique district. The craqueleurs of the iridescent paint gives the jar its rich texture, which at once, makes the object appear beautiful as well as ancient and important.
Leaving Iran at the age of 15, he attended high school in the US and later graduating from California Institute of Arts in 1984. Upon his return to Iran in 1991 following the end of the Iran/Iraq war, Moshiri experienced a new culture post 1979 revolution that was completely redefined in its cultural language of wealth and luxury. In the hopes to subvert the flaws of his homeland and the limitation of the Western world, Moshiri was keen to study modern Iranian poetry, collecting these ancient ceramics of Persian Golden Ages.
Later Moshiri experimented with the Jar series in textures and colors, lining the jars and coloring them in neon pinks, greens and blues, and making them more deliciously consumed by society, portraying them either in slender-neck, heart shaped, or round, exhibiting them just as an ancient artifact against a white neutral background. Hearkening to the Saqqakhaneh School of the 1960s and 70s from Iran, the artist infuses form into a world in which clearly defined borders exist between language, time, and place.
‘Moshiri had given form to a world in which borders between language, time, and place are porous. These are not ciphers or stand-ins for the real thing, but rather, they are as real as, say, reality television. Deceptively crafty, they offer up a vision of a globalized world, acting as X-rays of a culture that is dynamic, fluid, and composed of infinite pieces.’ D. Nasser-Khadivi & F. Rahim Ismail, Farhad Moshiri, Milan, 2016, Vol. I, p. 57.
Moshiri’s works draw influences from Pop Art, Conceptual and traditional iconography of his native Iran, critiquing on the pervasive Western influence in his homeland and bringing questions of identity and authenticity in his work. With kitschy expressions, his recurring jars reveal his fascination with archaeology and Persian history and Western culture with titles such as the present work You Left All Alone But Your Love Remained inscribed in nasta’aliq, an ornate, stately and calligraphic script used in writing the Persian alphabet. As the artist states ‘My mission in life was always to escape reality, and art was going to be my ticket. When I sense my work looks too serious, I feel I can’t breathe and have to poke a few holes in the canvas to let the hot air out’ (D. Nasser-Khadivi & F. Rahim Ismail, Farhad Moshiri, Milan, 2016, Vol. I, p. 52).
Iran boasts a heavy history of jars, from the Susa’s 6000 years ago to Sassanian vessels predating Islam to the advanced wares of 13th century Seljuq pots and to the 17th century Safavids. However just as their vast history serves as a framework for ancient times, the contemporary Iranian culture was plagued by a superficial and commercially driven artifice. Moshiri aims to reflect this cultural element within his works, his Jars regarded as ‘antiquities in the broadest sense of the word’ considering them ‘as remnants of a buried past unearthed to a contemporary view’ both physically and symbolically, through the decayed painting technique and the symbol of the jar as emblematic of his country’s past (D. Nasser-Khadivi & F. Rahim Ismail, Farhad Moshiri, Milan, 2016, Vol. I, p. 50).
To depict this decay, Moshiri experimented with weathered textures of his jars, through a process akin to the techniques art dealers would touch up to works by 19th century Qajar oil portraits, as he would readily see while strolling through Tehran’s antique district. The craqueleurs of the iridescent paint gives the jar its rich texture, which at once, makes the object appear beautiful as well as ancient and important.
Leaving Iran at the age of 15, he attended high school in the US and later graduating from California Institute of Arts in 1984. Upon his return to Iran in 1991 following the end of the Iran/Iraq war, Moshiri experienced a new culture post 1979 revolution that was completely redefined in its cultural language of wealth and luxury. In the hopes to subvert the flaws of his homeland and the limitation of the Western world, Moshiri was keen to study modern Iranian poetry, collecting these ancient ceramics of Persian Golden Ages.
Later Moshiri experimented with the Jar series in textures and colors, lining the jars and coloring them in neon pinks, greens and blues, and making them more deliciously consumed by society, portraying them either in slender-neck, heart shaped, or round, exhibiting them just as an ancient artifact against a white neutral background. Hearkening to the Saqqakhaneh School of the 1960s and 70s from Iran, the artist infuses form into a world in which clearly defined borders exist between language, time, and place.
‘Moshiri had given form to a world in which borders between language, time, and place are porous. These are not ciphers or stand-ins for the real thing, but rather, they are as real as, say, reality television. Deceptively crafty, they offer up a vision of a globalized world, acting as X-rays of a culture that is dynamic, fluid, and composed of infinite pieces.’ D. Nasser-Khadivi & F. Rahim Ismail, Farhad Moshiri, Milan, 2016, Vol. I, p. 57.