Parviz Tanavoli: Poets, Locks, Cages

Pantea Haghighi, 2023
Hardcover 208 pages
Publisher: Hirmer; 1st edition (14 Sept. 2023)
ISBN: 978-3777441597
Dimensions: 22.86 x 2.03 x 27.94 cm

Among the foremost contemporary Iranian artists and a pioneer of modern sculpture. 

Parviz Tanavoli – who has been widely recognised as the only Iranian artist to fully capture the duality and interplay of Iran’s pre-Islam and Islamic cultural identities – created a visual symbology through his sculptural work that would have a lasting impact on modernism in Iran. 

The book examines the layering of both sacred and secular histories in Parviz Tanavoli’s work – an integration that is crucial to understanding the development of modern sculpture in Iran. It offers fresh perspectives on Tanavoli’s artistic practice. Contributing authors from diverse backgrounds examine his work through a range of research interests and perspectives, and show the breadth of his interdisciplinary practice – from painting and printmaking to ceramics and mixed media assemblages.

 


Book Description

Parviz Tanavoli—who has been widely recognized as the only Iranian artist to fully capture the duality and interplay of Iran’s pre-Islam and Islamic cultural identities—created a visual symbology through his sculptural work that would have a lasting impact on modernism in Iran.

 

From the Back Cover

The most significant English-language publication to date on a prominent Iranian sculptor.

Born in Tehran and based in Vancouver, Parviz Tanavoli is one of the most well-known Iranian artists working today. Widely recognized as the only artist to fully capture the interplay of the country’s pre-Islamic and Islamic identities, Tanavoli draws on traditional motifs and iconography from Iranian history, creating a new visual symbology through his groundbreaking sculptures.

Parviz Tanavoli: Poets, Locks, Cages examines the layering of sacred and secular histories in Tanavoli’s work, an integration that is crucial to understanding the development of modern sculpture in Iran. Offering fresh perspectives on Tanavoli’s artistic practice, the catalog gathers contributors from diverse backgrounds to examine his work through a range of research interests and perspectives. Produced to accompany a 2023 exhibit of the same name at the Vancouver Art Gallery―the first major Canadian exhibition of the artist’s work―the book examines the breadth of Tanavoli’s interdisciplinary practice, from painting and printmaking to ceramics and mixed-media assemblages.

 

About the Author

Pantea Haghighi is an independent curator and founder of Republic Gallery, Vancouver. Achieving a degree in Art History at the University of British Columbia, Haghighi undertook graduate-level research at her alma mater, with a focus on modernism and architecture. Her expertise in contemporary art has supported her contribution to community development in Canadian institutions.