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Shahpari
Behzadi
The
Painter
Painted
No
More
Shahpari
Behzadi’s
recent
body
of
work
is a
cultural,
historical
and
aesthetical
reaction
to
Persian/Islamic
art
with
all
its
lyrical
opulence
that
has
come
to
life
through
contemporary
interpretation.
This
collection
is a
new
reading
on
Persian
geometric
art
that
has
reached
an
abstract
tone
via
separating
from
conventional
architectural
decorative
motifs
and
three-dimensional
space
and
imbedded
instead
in a
two-dimensional
setting.
In
this
collection,
through
careful
study
of
geometric
compositions
of
mosques
ceilings
and
other
historic
Iranian
monuments,
the
painter
has
come
up
with
new
patterns
-
using
dots
and
other
visual
elements
that
she
has
been
engaged
with
for
the
past
six
years
- to
create
an
exclusive
body
of
work.
A
contemporary
interpretation,
a
new
reading
and
present-day
pieces,
are
all
what’s
been
used
to
describe
the
works
presented
in
this
collection.
But
why
new?
and
how
contemporary?
Just
like
other
examples
of
abstract
painting,
there
has
been
an
emphasis
on
form,
colour,
texture
and
visual
effects
in
this
series.
In
these
works
too,
the
aim
is
not
to
present
a
visual
reality
in
an
accurate
and
precise
way,
instead,
shapes,
colours
and
compositions
have
all
been
used
to
achieve
this
effect.
But
the
means
of
expression
and
the
implementation
of
the
artist’s
creative
skills
and
imagination
as
well
as
her
ways
of
executing
patterns,
their
repetitions,
and
her
thematic
interest
in
choosing
colours
all
make
these
works
contemporary.
All
forms
and
patterned
ceilings,
simplified
and
flattened,
have
all
been
arranged
very
neatly
and
carefully
on
canvas.
All
that
is
remained
from
depth
and
three-dimensional
space
are
rows
of
large
to
small,
and
light
to
dark
arrangement
of
dots.
Shahpari
Behzadi’s
palette
is
also
born
out
of
her
imagination
and
her
role
in
creating
it
is
as
obvious
as
her
interference
with
pattern.
Intertwined
and
symbolic
colours
of
the
tiny
geometric
designs
of
Islamic
architecture
have
given
way
to
totally
new
and
bright
colours
with
simplified
and
brief
contemporary
compositions.
Small
geometric
forms
in
Islamic
architecture
that
together
create
complex
and
large
forms
are
arranged
together
in
dots
creating
single
forms
in
the
works
of
this
series.
In
fact,
the
simplification
of
Persian/Islamic
architectural
ornamentations
and
the
ways
of
using
geometric
designs
and
the
re-implementing
them
in
transparent
colours
are
just
like
the
re-writing
of
history
in a
modern
language,
one
that
doesn’t
use
rhetorical
and
literary
embellishments
and
the
meaning
is
instead
delivered
in a
simple
and
visual
language.
On
the
other
hand,
installation
of
these
simplified
patterns
on
the
walls
right
before
our
eyes
despite
them
being
expected
to
be
placed
high
up
above
our
heads,
their
emptiness
of
symbolic
load
or
in
other
words,
the
change
of
their
placement
and
visual
and
conceptual
function,
make
these
works
contemporary.
Shahpari
Behzadi’s
works
are
empty
of
description
and
narration.
Her
expression
is
direct
and
immediate.
In
these
decorative
abstract
works,
audiences
are
invited
to
see
the
past
through
a
present-day
perspective
via
a
minimal
language,
or
in
other
words,
they
are
invited
to
experience
the
past
in a
modern
way.
Shahpari
Behzadi’s
recent
series
is a
new
selection
about
the
beauty
of
this
land’s
past,
a
Persian
poetry
for
the
entire
world.
Maryam
Majd-
Winter
2017
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