REZA DERAKSHANI
REZA DERAKSHANI
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PREFACE Since its creation in 2008, Opera Gallery Monaco has been kicking off the summer season with an exhibition of the grand masters of Impressionism and Modern Art. This year, Opera Gallery Monaco is proud to open the summer program highlighting the most recent works of the Iranian artist Reza Derakshani. A painter, performer and musician all wrapped up in one talented individual, Reza is a reputed master contemporary artist on the international scene.
The cultural heritage of my homeland is like a magic box, every time I open it I find something which could lead me to new inspirations. Some times terrible things I find in there as well, specially in the history box which belongs to the recent decades! Reza Derakshani
For his first-ever exhibition in the Principality of Monaco, Reza has produced approximately twenty pieces that truly epitomize his work. Bursting with life, matter and colours, somewhere between abstract and figurative, his paintings draw their essence from the artist’s Persian identity and imagination. To admire Reza Derakshani’s work is to plunge head first into his culture: calligraphy, floral patterns, birds, trees and pomegranates; scenes of celebration, dancing and secret rendez-vous are some of the powerful symbols from a country with a history that is thousands of years old! A hypnotic beauty exudes from all of the artist’s paintings. The person who gazes on one of Reza’s tableaus can imagine his nomadic upbringing in the village of Sangsar, in the North of Iran; under his family’s tent, itself cradled by the flora and fauna: mountain ranges, horses and colourful prairies. Reza evokes the magnificent legacy of Iran, an exceptional land struggling with a much more sober reality. The artist has not started a revolution; he is a storyteller of the enduring memory more than a protester. Over the last few years, Iranian Contemporary Art has been exhibited in many major museums and has enjoyed dedicated departments in prestigious auction houses the world over. Reza Derakshani’s work is part of the permanent collections of the Teheran Museum of Contemporary Art, the British Museum, London, as well as the Brooklyn Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. As with every artistic movement, history will cherish only a chosen few. Reza Derakshani is most certainly one such artist; and what a brilliant representative of the Middle East he is. This exhibition is the perfect opportunity for Opera Gallery to participate in celebrating Iranian Contemporary Art, and one of its prodigies, Reza Derakshani. Gilles Dyan Founder and Chairman Opera Gallery Group
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Painter, musician and performance artist Reza Derakshani was born in Sangsar, in the northeast of Iran in 1952. He grew up in a great black tent on the top of a mountain, among horses and fields of blue and yellow wild flowers. Reza developed from the study of constellations of light created by the moonlight shining through tiny holes in the tent to the study of mathematics in high school, and visual arts in Tehran and the USA. As registers of Reza Derakshani’s expansive store of creativity, the originality of his artistic vision, and the musical energy of his paintings, the visual-musical interplay can also be tapped in order to locate his art within the parameters of a cultural mentalité that is historically and deeply Persian, although not uniquely so. Derakshani’s life work is impressive in its range of media and techniques, his passionate unleashing of creative energies through multiple venues of artistic expression including sculpture and calligraphic arts, and, significantly, music. Equally rich and provocative are Derakshani’s explorations of the conceptual and philosophical preoccupations of his time and place. Following his first solo exhibition at the renowned Ghandriz Gallery in Tehran at the tender age of nineteen, Reza Derakshani has held more than 50 solo shows, group shows, performances and numerous Art Fairs, among other things. In 2010 the Hunting Gold, 150 x 480 cm was exhibited at the Hope! exhibition in France alongside works by Hirst, Murakami and others. His 60 faces from the series Identity Crisis was displayed at the Chelsea Art Museum NYC which was featured in NY Times on August 2009. Most recently, his solo painting show at the Armory NYC and his extremely anticipated Retrospective at the SPM in Dubai added to his international adventure. Furthermore, Derakshani has been showcased in numerous publications such as the NY Times, Canvas Art Magazine, ArtSpeak NYC, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Art Experience NYC, Contemporary Practice, National UAE, Masquerade Magazine, Gulf News, ABC TV, BBC Radio, NPR, WNYC, KPFK LA, L’Unita Italy to name a few. The long and circuitous road of Derakshani’s artistic and geographic migration eventually found him in New York City, where he settled and worked for sixteen years. He later moved to Italy, eventually returning to Tehran for seven years before leaving his homeland once again in 2010. He currently lives and works between Dubai and the USA. 6
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Studies
Selected group exhibitions
BA Visual, Art Tehran University, Iran Art Centre, California, USA
201 3 Art of Iran, Opera Gallery, Dubai, UAE
Selected solo exhibitions 2012 Reza Derakshani: Silence of the Night, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA Reza Derakshani: Everyday & Every Night, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland The Armony Show 2012, Leila Heller Gallery and JAMM Art, New York, USA 2011 Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon Circus of Life, Dar Al Funoon Gallery and JAMM Art, Kuwait City, Kuwait 2010
ramer Art Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland C Reza Derakshani, Osborne Samuel Gallery, London, UK Reza Derakshani, Dar Al Funoon Gallery, Kuwait City, Kuwait Voice and Circus, AB Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
2009 Circus of Life, AB Gallery, Lucerne, Switzerland Paintings, Galerie Nikki Diana Marquardt, Paris, France Khosrow and Shireen series, Dar Al Funoon Gallery, Kuwait City, Kuwait Migration, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA 2008 Beyond the Darkness, Khak Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran 2007 Reza Derakshani Exhibit, Seyhoun Gallery, Los Angeles, USA Nocturn, from Khosrow & Shirin series, Mah Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran 2005
Assar Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2003
eza Derakshani, Caterina Pazzi Art Promotion, Rome, Italy R Niavaran Palace Cultural Centre, Tehran, Iran Reza Derakshani, small works on paper, Tarahan Azad Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2002 Retrospective, Khane e Honarmandan, Tehran, Iran 1995
Montclair State University, Montclair, USA
1994 G alleria il Punto di Svolta, Rome, Italy Anzio City Hall, Anzio, Italy 1993
Lawson Gallery, Seattle, USA
1992
Nour Foundation Gallery, New York , USA
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Iran Gallery, Tehran, Iran
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Tehran University Gallery, Tehran, Iran
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Seyhoun Gallery, Tehran, Iran
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Ghandriz Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2012 The Rule and its Exception, Debora Colton Gallery, Houston, USA Letters in Motion, Dar Al Funoon Gallery, Kuwait City, Kuwait 201 1 Group exhibition, Mah Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran 2010 Made in Iran, Opera Gallery, Dubai, UAE Opera Gallery in Muscat, Opera Gallery Dubai, Muscat, UAE Summer group exhibition, Mah Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran Tehran-New York, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA Mona Lisa 10 x 10, Gallery 10, Tehran, Iran Hope!, Palais des Arts et Festivals, Dinard, France Peace!, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA East meets West on the East end, Leila Heller Gallery, New York 2009 Painting, Mah Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran L’Iran sans frontière, Galerie Almine Rech, Paris, France Guns and Roses, Eleven Howland Ltd, London, UK Selseleh/Zelzeleh: Movers & Shakers in Comtemporary Iranian Art, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA Routes II, Waterhouse and Dodd, London, UK Khosrow and Shireen series, Dar Al Funoon Gallery, Kuwait City, Kuwait 1001 Colors, Contemporary Art from Iran, Canvas New York Art, New York, USA Three Artists, Basement, Dubai, UAE 2008 J ust Paper, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA Hope, Focus Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE Khak Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran 2005
Painting, Mah Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2004 Painting, Mah Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran 2003
Assie Mennegini Gallery, Rome, Italy
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Lorry Dunn’s Gallery, Long Beach, USA
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Thumb Gallery, London, UK
Museum exhibitions 2013 Reza Derakshani: Retrospective, The Salsali Private Museum, Dubai, UAE 201 1 Show Off!, The Salsali Private Museum, Dubai, UAE 2009
I ran Inside Out, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, USA
2008 The Colour of Love, Farhangsara Cultural Centre, Tehran, Iran 2004 Gardens of Iran, Ancient Wisdom - New Vision, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran, Iran 2003 6th Tehran Contemporary Painting Biennial, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran, Iran 8
Art Fairs 2012 Scope Basel 201 0-11-12 Abu Dhabi 201 0-11-12 Dubai Art Fair 201 1 Basel Miami 201 1 Istanbul Art Fair
Collections Metropolitan Museum, New York Leon Black, New York Sting and Trudie Styler, London Sheikha Paola Al-Sabah, Kuwait Taymour Grohn collection, New York Farjam collection, Dubai Mr and Mrs Naqvi collection, Dubai The Royal Family of Abu Dhabi Mr. Salsali collection at SPM, Dubai British Museum, London 9
Wild pomegranates, 2013 Oil and glitter on canvas 120 x 100 cm - 47.2 x 39.4 in. 10
Garden party green, 2011 Oil on canvas 200 x 100 cm - 78.7 x 39.4 in. 11
Hunting turquoise, 2013 Oil, enamel, glitter and tar on canvas - 180 x 400 cm - 70.9 x 157.5 in. 12
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Shirin and Khosro, 2008 Oil on canvas - D: 150 cm - 59.1 in. 14
Pomegranate studies, 2011 Oil on canvas - 100 x 100 cm - 39.4 x 39.4 in. 15
Every day and every night, 2012 Oil and enamel on canvas - 153 x 254 cm - 60.2 x 100 in. 16
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One bird, one song No. 1, 2013 Black sand and gold paste on canvas - 220 x 80 cm - 86.6 x 31.5 in. 18
The Rose and nightingale, pink, 2008 Oil, gold paste and tar on canvas - 100 x 100 cm - 39.4 x 39.4 in. 19
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Love is in the air No.2, 2009
Every yellow day and every yellow night, 2012
Oil on canvas 120 x 150 cm - 47.2 x 59.1 in.
Mixed media on canvas 300 x 180 cm - 118.1 x 70.9 in. 21
Tree of colour, 2012 Oil on canvas - 100 x 100 cm - 39.4 x 39.4 in. 22
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Day and night, yellow, 2011 -2013 Oil, enamel and glitter on canvas - 220 x 135 cm - 86.6 x 53.1 in. 24
One bird, one song, green, 2013 Oil, enamel and glitter on canvas - 220 x 80 cm - 86.6 x 31.5 in. 25
Homay and Homayoun, 2009 - 2013 Oil, gold paste and glitter on canvas 180 x 200 cm - 70.9 x 78.7 in. 26
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One bird, one song, pink, 2009 - 2013 Oil, enamel, gold paste and glitter on canvas 220 x 90 cm - 86.6 x 35.4 in. 28
Garden party blue, No. 3, 2013 Oil on canvas 180 x 160 cm - 70.9 x 63 in. 29
The Rose and the nightingale in the dark night, 2013 Oil, glitter and tar on canvas - 200 x 150 cm - 78.7 x 59.1 in. 30
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Rose and nightingale, pink, 2009 Oil and tar on canvas 250 x 40 cm - 98.4 x 15.7 in.
Rose and nightingale, blue, 2009 Oil and tar on canvas 250 x 40 cm - 98.4 x 15.7 in. 32
Silent jingle bells No. 2, 2009- 2012 Oil, tar and glitter on canvas D: 150 cm - 59.1 in. 33
There are always amazing stories behind each work of art whether it’s the content or the way it was created but I would rather to forget all about that and see the outcome as a successful and strong piece of art, if not, none of those stories matter to me really. Reza Derakshani
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