| Hossein
Valamanesh: A Survey 29 June - 26 August 2001 Galleries 23, 24, 25 |
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Hossein Valamanesh born Tehran, Iran 1949, arrived Australia 1973 Falling breeze, 1991, Berlin melaleuca branch, PVA, tissue paper sand, earth, red iron oxide 365.0 x 140.0 x 12.0 cm Collection: the artist |
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Associated events, tours, talks and activities Scroll to the end of this page or click this heading for more details about the Hossein Valamanesh exhibition as well as information about tours, talks, film & video screenings and children's activities Education Tuesday 31 July
at 5.30 pm Saturday 11 August from 1.00 - 4.00 pmSuperstudio: Materials & Methods with Hossein Valamanesh This special senior secondary workshop includes a slide lecture, exhibition tour, Q&A and discussion on materials and methods with the artist. Limited to 25 students. Cost $10. Bookings essential – contact Megan on 8207 7005 Catalogue and Merchandise About the exhibition, Hossein Valamanesh: A Survey Over the last twenty years Adelaide-based Hossein Valamanesh has become established as one of Australia's best-known contemporary artists. Often utilising the most elemental of natural materials - branches, flames, leaves, sand, mud, seeds, earth - Valamanesh seeks out an essential connection to place through the simplest of means. His poetic works explore issues such as cultural identity, history, memory and the relationship between humanity and the natural world. This exhibition, to be displayed from 29 June to 26 August 2001, will be the first major survey exhibition of Valamanesh's work and will include some sixty works from both public and private collection. Hossein Valamanesh was born in Teheran in 1949 to Azerbaijani parents and lived in Iran until immigrating to Australia when he was twenty-four. His work draws heavily on his Iranian heritage, invoking the ancient world of Sufi poetry, the mystical whirling dervishes and the magical mythology of Persian carpets. Valamanesh's work often draws evocative threads between his native Persian culture and the ancient Indigenous culture / landscape of Australia. His experiences as an immigrant in a foreign land, and as an inveterate traveller, strongly inform his creative vision. This exhibition will be the first opportunity to see a large selection of the artist's work from the beginning of his career in the late 1970s to the present.
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Hossein Valamanesh © copyright |
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| Part of Valamanesh's Homa, 2000, is composed of a woman's
plait woven from palm fronds. Hung beside a photographic image of the artist's
grandmother, the plaited palm becomes a tender evocation of a personal memory. Valamanesh
lived in Iran until he migrated to Australia. His grandmother played an important role in
his upbringing, and her photograph - digitally enlarged and enhanced from a 1950s original
and printed onto fine quality paper - has a powerful presence. Her handsome face speaks
across time and culture, a photographic trace of a remembered past. But in the
transformation of the image from an intimate scale (an object to be held in the palm of
the hand) to a work of greater magnitude and a 'high art' aspirations, the image becomes a
timeless symbol of maternal strength. As Valamanesh's shadows are those of every man, so
too Homa is grandmother to all who see her, a serene and timeless reflection of
the human yearning for family love.
The palm plait acts as a physical trace, like a breath, or a relic, which evokes a human presence. The binary nature of Homa recurs in Valamanesh's work frequently, not only as a means to explore the relationship of photography to the three-dimensional world, but also as a way of establishing other poetic conjunctions. |
Associated EventsMarian Pastor Roces speaks about the work of Hossein Valamanesh Friday 3 August 2001 Marian Pastor Roces is a scholar, critic and independent curator based in Manila, who has a long-term interest in the politics of museums, cities, clothing, contemporary art and the construction of minorities. She will be visiting Adelaide for the Globalisation series run by Adelaide University. She has developed a keen interest in the work of Hossein Valamanesh. Tickets $5 includes glass of wine. Bookings essential – contact Megan on 8207 7005 Persian Picnic Films Lunchtime Talk Lunchtime Talk Tours Tuesday 10 July at 10.00 am. Bookings essential. Telephone: 8207 7005. Tours are free, admission charge of $2 per person apply School Holiday Art & Craft Workshops Monday 16 July - Saturday 21 July Candelabras & Calligraphy Design a candelabra and learn the ancient art of calligraphy. Suitable for children between 4 and 12 years. Daily sessions at 11.00 am, 12 noon, 1.30 pm and 2.30 pm. $5 per child per session. Bookings recommended. Telephone Megan on 8207 7005 Catalogue |
This page was last modified on 17 July 2001