Googoosh

The Egyptian artist Chant Avedissian, born to Armenian parents, returned to his native homeland after living and studying abroad in Montreal and Paris. Merging his eclectic aesthetic experiences acquired abroad with his own cultural heritage and background, Avedissian produces works that are striking commentaries on the world that surrounds him. Using innovative mediums inspired by historical photographs and stills depicting everyday figures from the 1950s to the 1970s, his works reveal the artist's nostalgic interpretations of the Middle East's Golden Age. In the first work from the selection, the artist depicts the Iranian popular singer and actress Googoosh. Known from her early childhood and a celebrated public figure, she is considered today by many Iranians in diaspora as the symbol of a glorious and nostalgic past in Iran. The two other works by Chant Avedissian are portraits of women referencing everyday culture in Egypt and are reminiscent of vintage posters seen in the streets of Cairo.