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HORMOZ HEMATIAN & ASHKAN ZAHRAEI, Electric Room, art under high tension

HORMOZ HEMATIAN & ASHKAN ZAHRAEI, Electric Room, art under high tension

Tehran has a rich and vibrating art scene with highly talented artists, many of them were born after the Islamic Revolution.

Hormoz Hematian, founder and director of Dastan Gallery, one of the edgiest art spaces in the Iranian capital focusing on contemporary art, and his friend Ashkan Zahraei, Dastan’s curator and communication manager, travel constantly between Tehran and the most important art fairs around the world to promote the work of their artists and to develop international collaborations.

These two workaholics and unconditional art lovers have a thousand creative ideas in mind, are not afraid of any challenge and have launched “Electric Room” in 2017, which is certainly one of the craziest, most intense and ambitious art projects that makes Tehran a true reservoir of creativity and one of the most interesting and dynamic spots for contemporary art.

‘Electric Room’ is a very interesting and challenging art project that you have both developed and introduced to the Iranian art scene. How did this idea start?

AZ: Tehran has a very small art community. So through my work as a writer as well as a curator, both through working at Dastan and independently, I met a lot of artists who wanted to do art installations but there was no space in Tehran for experimental projects.

So that’s why Hormoz and I had the idea to launch the art concept ‘Electric Room’.

The concept was to showcase 50 experimental art projects in 50 weeks, introducing each week a new project and usually a lesser-known artist. So, it has a precisely defined beginning and end.

That’s a very ambitious and crazy project! 

HH: Yes, the challenge was enormous! It’s more than some galleries show in five years.

Having three other galleries in Tehran, I was missing the spontaneity of doing a show. So Electric Room allowed us to give back and find again the romance of art.

So, in June 2017 we opened this temporary exhibition space, not bigger than 30m2, in downtown Tehran, right next to the Faculty of Art and Architecture, and within minutes of walking to the Faculty of Fine Arts and many of the city’s other cultural or artistic institutions.
There are a lot of students, so the vibe of this area is really good and dynamic.

We called the project Electric Room because one wall is almost entirely covered with electric switchboards and control units. It’s a very cool and unusual place.

AZ: Luckily we’re both workaholics!

The project was amazing and so intense for so many months. We wanted to offer people a unique experience.

We had only one day to take down an exhibition, repaint the walls and install the new show. And this every week, for 14 months. It was such a crazy rhythm!

And how did the Iranian audience react on this concept?

HH: The reaction was fantastic!

At each opening the ambiance was so vibrant, and literally « electric ».

We had so many people coming, that there was not even enough space inside the gallery for all the visitors.

And what kind of audience came to the openings?

HH: The right people. Young people, art lovers, potential clients, people who weren’t normally into going to galleries but loved the vibe and were intrigued by the space.
Each opening took 4 to 5 hours.

AZ: We were also inviting other galleries to show them the artists.

The fundamental idea of Electric Room was to be spontaneous, open, accessible and generous.

Showcasing 50 art projects of 50 different artists in 50 weeks is quite a challenge. How did you constantly find new artists?

AZ: We were focusing on several different types of projects:

Installation projects, single-piece exhibitions, photo, video or multimedia projects, and also archival projects, like the « Tehran UFO Project ».

I’m a UFO enthusiast, so this show was an archival presentation of documents, articles and films relating to the historical incident from 1976 when UFOs have been seen over Tehran. I really like the idea that a non-art project becomes art.

HH: At the beginning some artists were quite skeptic because it’s a very unusual way of presenting art, they didn’t want to take a risk. So we had to start with the ones who trusted us.

AZ: That’s why we did our first few shows with artists that we already worked with at Dastan, including Sina Choopani, Mohammad Hossein Gholamzadeh, Meghdad Lorpour, and others.
These artists already had their followings and showing their work created more trust for other artists we wanted to work with.

We were able to work with extremely talented people in Iran, some of which normally don’t want to collaborate with galleries.

Among those artists that you were showing some are Iranians who live and work abroad. Why is it still important to them to show their work in Tehran at your gallery?

AZ: Electric Room created an opportunity to exhibit one’s work among a much wider scope and a more detailed program.

Many of these artists chose to exhibit at Electric Room because they wanted to be part of the experience and the program.

You’re working on such high-level art projects with Electric Room and Dastan Gallery and have gained a great reputation in the international art scene. But where does this love for art  initially come from?

AZ: For me, visual art is a combination of my academic background (writing, critical theory) and a practical touch.

As much as theory and literature can give insights into the world, art gives me greater opportunities for communication and dialogue.

HH: My grandfather was a general before the revolution; after the Shah was overthrown, he left the army, turned towards painting and became a self-taught, amateur artist.

Whenever I went to visit him in his house in Khorasan, there was one room for his paintings, another one for his calligraphies and one for his instruments.
There was a certain magic to it. And I saw how art saved his life.

Did Trumps’s policy put an end to the Iranian art boom?

AZ: No, serious artists will always find a way to express their ideas. If there is no high-quality paint or paper in the stores anymore, they will use cheaper one but this won’t stop them from being creative, being an artist.

Living such an intense experience for 50 weeks, how did you feel during the last show of Electric Room?

HH: Very emotional.

AZ: I was unsure how to feel in the beginning, but the last day was indeed quite sad. As much as I was sure we needed to end what we had started, letting go felt very difficult.

Credits:
All photos of Hormoz Hematian and Ashkan Zahraei:  Roxana Fazeli
(with Atefeh Majidi Nezhad’s work “Revision: Zero-G”)
All photos of exhibition at Electric Room courtesy of Dastan Gallery:
Photo exhibition 1: “Unsafe zone/domestic production” by Amin Akbari
Photo exhibition 2: “The champion” by Mohammad Hossein Gholamzade
Photo exhibition 3: “We are” by Sina Choopani
Photo exhibition 4:  “Memebrain” by Taba Fajrak & Shokoufeh Khoramroodi
Photo exhibition 5: “Inevitably inescapable” by Siavash Naghshbandi
Photo exhibition 6:  “Tehran UFO project”
Photo exhibition 7:  “Tangab” by Meghdad Lorpour
Photo exhibition 8: “Mutual tongue” by Milad Nemati
Photo exhibition 9: “The shaving” by Farrokh Mahdavi
Photo exhibition 10: “Interview” by Sepideh Zamani
https://dastan.gallery
Electric Room
Text: Anahita Vessier

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LINDA BROWNLEE, Unfolding the hidden beauty of the raw

LINDA BROWNLEE, Unfolding the hidden beauty of the raw

Linda Brownlee is an award winning photographer and filmmaker renowned for her documentary approach. She works with the most prestigious newspapers and magazines, has published several books and her photographs have been exhibited at London’s National Portrait Gallery.

Intrigued by the romance of the raw, Linda Brownlee finds  inspiration in the unexpected beauty of details that are often overlooked. Unfolding moments of intimacy with a spontaneous sincerity her images are delicate, lose and airy with an elegant glow.

Anahita’s Eye presents her long-term project “i Zii”, a tender portrayal of a family in the Sicilian village of Gangi.

You’ve studied art and design after graduating from a communication degree at Dublin City University. What made you decide to become a photographer?

Photography was one of the modules in the art & design course, and I fell for for it that year, photographing anything and everything.

I loved it! I didn’t know any Irish photographers at that time and didn’t know how to begin to make a career out of it. It was simply a passion I decided to follow and see where it went.

I was very non committal about the whole thing, it just felt like a hobby. I was probably three or four years into things before I acknowledged to myself that I was actually pretty serious about it as a career.

And if not photographer, what would you have been? 

An equine vet, an actress, a sculptor, a lawyer… I wanted to do and be everything.

In your photos you focus on the real and intimate nature of people and their relationship to the environment they inhabit.
What is really important for you when you shoot a portrait ?

For me, it’s about capturing an energy and a mood, something that reflects the exchange, however fleeting that is.

So to capture this energy, how much do you direct your subjects? Or do you prefer to stay quite spontaneous?

My focus is always on creating a super relaxed atmosphere, working out the chemistry and finding some chat.

I try to keep direction to a minimum, preferring things to naturally unfold. I seem to get something a little more interesting, perhaps more intimate that way.

You’ve showed these moments of intimacy in several documentaries for Nowness: The series « Limber Notes », featuring performers of all ages and backgrounds with one thing in common, their love for dance. Or « In the Arena »  about the famous British model Edie Campbell revealing her passion for horse riding. 

Would you like to direct more documentaries?

Yes, I’d love to do more directing. I find it really exciting and satisfying.

I love the challenge of working with all the elements.  I studied radio with my communications degree and appreciate the awesome power of sound. Being interested in people’s characters, stories and creating a mood, it makes for a fairly natural transition.

I think there’s a big documentary film in me somewhere, I just need to find the time.

Any person or subject in particular that you dream of treating in this big future documentary portraiture project?

Not right now, but when I discover who it is, I’m sure I’ll find the time to do it.

As an award winning photographer renowned for your documentary approach, you also work for fashion.

What is so interesting for you in fashion photography?

I love working with beautiful clothes, collaborating with stylists, and I’m interested in casting. Its feels like a really nice place to play, experiment and push myself in different ways.

And whose style do you admire?

I don’t know if I would use admire, but I really enjoy Yayoi Kusama’s style.

Any photo in particular that inspires your artistic vision?

Definitely not.

I think my artistic vision is inspired by a mish mash of all sorts, films, paintings, the work of various photographers… And big long walks when I run out of ideas.

A part from being a photographer and director you’re also a mother of two small kids. Did motherhood change your creativity?

It has certainly made me more focused in what I give my creative energy to.
Being a mother halves your time, so you cut out doing the stuff that you actually probably should have said no to anyway. It gives you a certain clarity I guess.

What comes to your mind when you think of Iran?

Hashem Shakeri’s photo series on climate change and its consequences in Iran.

Credits:
All photos: Linda Brownlee
From her self-published book “I Zii”, EightyOne Books, 2016
http://www.lindabrownlee.com
Text: Anahita Vessier

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CHRISTELLE TÉA, The mystery of clearly defined reality

CHRISTELLE TÉA, The mystery of clearly defined reality

The first time I met Christelle Tea, I was intrigued by this person who looked like a chinese girl from 30s with this pale skin and with this eccentric hat on her head wearing a little black dress. She reminded me of the main character in Marguerite Duras’ s « The Lovers ». It’s this contrast between her extravagant look mixed with this juvenile behavior and naive sincerity, that surprised me.

Shy and discret by nature, I discovered the other side of Christelle during our shooting at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris when she was posing in front of the camera. This body that seemed so fragile one second ago showed all of a sudden strength and confidence.

Christelle knows how to play with her image. Brought to art by destiny driven by her extraordinary talent, Christelle Tea reveals in her work with virtuosity the truth of an instant with all its details and invites the spectator to look and to look over again at this very specific moment.

Where does your passion for drawing comes from?

I’ve been drawing since I’m a little girl. My parents had a Chinese restaurant and I’ve spent all my afternoons there with my sister. We were so bored. One day I told my mum  and so she gave me a notebook and a pen that she was using to take the clients’ orders. From that moment on I was drawing all the time.

It was not only an occupation but also a way of expressing myself because I was extremely shy. I was a very quiet and discret child.

Until I was six, I didn’t speak french at all even though I was born in France and lived in France all my life.

At home we only spoke Teochew, a Chinese dialect from Guangdong, a province in the south-east of China.

So when I started to go to school I felt like an alien, I didn’t understand any word the teachers and the children were saying.

Drawing helped me to escape, to express myself, to be understood. For me drawing was a means of expression and communication.

So it was from that moment on that you’ve decided to become an artist?

My mother always said if she knew she would have given me a calculator rather than the notebook and the pen; and for my father being an artist was not at all an option to earn your money.

I’ve discovered Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or Picasso when I was in high school during art classes.

Years after, I was lucky enough to be accepted at the Beaux-Arts de Paris. It’s a real paradise to study art there. You can choose any class you want and experiment in this breathtakingly beautiful location.

So it’s finally destiny that brought me to becoming an artist.

You went to China during your studies for an exchange program with the Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Did this experience help you to reconnect with your Chinese origins?

Absolutely!

These six months helped me to renew my ties with my Chinese origins and I’ve discovered also the differences between the Chinese and French way of teaching.

While studying in Beijing, I was allowed to study only one technique, no way to choose more than one. However this helped me to have a real expertise. So I’ve decided to learn wood engraving with Master Xu.

And when I had some time off, I was walking around the city with my drawing tools. I felt free like a bird!

I was drawing in the streets, at the market, at the museum, in the hutongs of Beijing.

So you’ve got always a drawing board, a sheet of paper and an ink pen with you. That’s a real mobile studio ! Would you like to have a real artist’s studio to go there and work every day?

During my artist residency  at the Museum Jean-Jacques Henner in Paris, I have had actually a studio for 6 six months but I was never there.

For my work, I need life, I need mouvement.

This life, this mouvement that you mention you capture them on the spot and without doing any sketches before in your portrays. Real life drawings of people at home, at work where you don’t miss any detail. Is it important for you that people are pleased with the outcome of their portray?

No.
I don’t try at all to praise the person that I’m drawing.

What I’m interested in those drawings and portrays drawn on the spot is to capture the world around those people, the immediate reality with all its details that should not be seen but that exist, like the pile of messy cables underneath a Louis XV inlaid marquetry desk or a piano unable to hide the tube of a vacuum cleaner.

It’s in those details that you’re face to face with reality. 

Regarding this, I’ve always liked Garry Winograd’s quote:

« There is nothing as mysterious as a fact clearly described ».

I don’t try at all to neither flatter the person that I draw nor to do a photographic reproduction of her and of the familiar environment around her. She rather becomes an element among others in this composition where every object, every book, every musical instrument, every painting on the wall is illustrated precisely and meticulously.

And when you don’t draw?

When I don’t draw I study opera singing at the conservatoire of the 16th district in Paris with Alexandra Papadijakou.

Music and drawing are very important and complementary to me. Both are a haven of creativity and artistic expression.

By the way it’s the passion for music that gave me the idea to create the huge mural drawings inspired by the opera « The Tales of Hoffmann » of Offenbach or « Faust » of Gounod. I’m also showing myself in those two frescos.

Being a music and art lover, which artists are you fond of?

In music, Bernstein, Mozart, Puccini.

In art, Hockney, Dürer and Sam Szafran who gave in his work a lot of importance to details and he never went to his own opening shows.

And you, do you like to attend your own opening shows?

Yes.
It’s important to go and see who is interested in my work.
And also in respect for the people who made the effort to come and discover my drawings.
Above all that, it’s a great moment to spend with friends.

What comes to your mind when you think of Iran?

I think of the photographer Ali Mahdavi. I made his portray and I love his work.

Credits:
All photos of Christelle Téa:  Marion Leflour
All drawings: Christelle Téa
Drawing 1: Jean Michel Frouin, artist painter and carpenter, 2015, ink on paper, 65 x 50 cm
Drawing 2: Morphology gallery at Beaux-Arts in Paris, 2012, ink on paper, 50 x 65 cm
Drawing 3: 2 for 1 at Xiyuan market, 2014, ink on paper, 301 x 412 mm
Drawing 4: Cécile Guilbert, writer, 2015, ink on paper, 65 x 50 cm
Drawing 5: Concert of Christophe Chassol, composer-musician, at the Silencio Paris 2018, ink on paper
Drawing 6: The Last Judgement and the Colleone, Chapel of Petits-Augustins at the Beaux-Arts de Paris, 2012, ink on paper, 50 x 65 cm
Drawing 7: Ali Mahdavi, plastic artist, director and art director of the review “Désirs” at the Crazy Horse, 2015, ink on paper
Special thanks to Valérie Sonnier et Philippe Comar of the Beaux-Arts de Paris to give us the permission to do the shooting of Christelle Téa at the  gallery of morphology.
https://christelletea.com
Text: Anahita Vessier
Translation: Anahita Vessier

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ANAHITA’S EYE, Launch evening at the Silencio

ANAHITA’S EYE, Launch evening at the Silencio

Anahita’s Eye invited to the Silencio in Paris to celebrate its official launch with a concert of Christophe Chassol, the photo exhibition “Big Fish” by the Iranian photographer Morteza Niknahad and the screening of the film “Reset” by the french directors Alban Teurlai and Thierry Demaizière.

Credits:
All photos by Benoît Frenette

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ZOE CASSAVETES, Fearless behind the camera

ZOE CASSAVETES, Fearless behind the camera

My first encounter with Zoe Cassavetes was through her movie “Broken English” released in 2007. I absolutely adored her fine study and observation of the complexity and banality of language in a love story, an experience that we all went through at least once in our life.

The second encounter with her was in Paris when I met her in person at the house party of a common friend. That’s where I’ve noticed that Zoe’s natural way of being and talking is reflected in her movies where she observes in a very sincere way the multiple facets of female emotions in different phases of a woman’s life.

Daughter of the legendary Hollywood couple John Cassavetes and Gena Rowland she loves to be challenged in her movie projects and to get out of her comfort zone.

 

Last year you’ve directed the serie « Junior » for Blackpills, a mobile ready short form video content for millennials. 10 episodes, each not longer than 10min, for a millennial-focused mobile consumption.
What a challenge!
Do you like to get out of your comfort zone? 

Yes, I love to get out of my comfort zone.
But it was more about creating the subject of teenagers in modern day that was the most daunting. They were going to be my audience and I wanted to get it right.

What is so interesting about the millennial culture?

What is interesting to me about this new generation is first, how quickly time goes by since you were that generation X and how extreme some of the things they do and watch and know are. And it’s all because of technology moving at the speed of light. I come from a generation where I had none of that stuff for the first 20 years of my life. I know how to read and write by hand and dream.

No one ever puts down their phone. Life is through the phone. That scares me. But there are some amazing kids out there who are using the technology to build their lives in positive ways.

It’s just no one knows what the effects are of so rapidly ingesting this new system of being into our lives. I know I’m affected by it and I’ve lead the other life.
I’m sure millennials just look at me and are like, who is this old lady?

You’ve tried to be an actress before becoming a photographer and director. What made you giving up acting and stand rather behind the camera?

I was a terrible actress! Really, really bad. It’s too bad, too, I really wanted to be one. But I didn’t really know who I was back then so I had no base, no confidence to perform.

I’ve always been a writer and when I tried directing I loved it because I was in control of the orchestra so to speak but I didn’t have to be the performer.

I love actors to bits. It’s not an easy job. But I love my long, involved, sometimes painful but always rewarding job.

You’ve directed the film « Behind the Door » celebrating the Ritz Paris’s reopening. Do you have any personal memories of the Ritz Hotel?

I loved the Ritz Paris from the time I was a little girl and I would go there with my parents.

It’s like a fairy tale, not just because it’s a beautiful hotel, but the people who run the hotel make it seems like you are in a magical place where anything could come true.

So the film is very fantastical with magical keys and doors into a wild world of hide and seek, sort of childhood game with all the best costumes and people.

If you had to keep just one movie in a time capsule as a proof of humanity for billions of years from now when earth has erased all traces of mankind, what would be your choice?

Oh I hate this question.
I love movies so much it would be very hard for me to decide on just one. Especially since my favorite movies are about human suffering.

I would have probably had a better answer before Trump took over but now it’s BT and AT. My BT pick would be “It’s A Wonderful Life” and my post Trump pick would be “Dr. Strangelove”.

Being married to Sébastien Chenut of the french electro-duo Scratch Massive, is music an important part in your movies?

Married to the composer! Truthfully Seb has amazing taste in music and film. And he knew how to push me to a more modern sound in my films and work we do together.

Music is such a big part of the story. It is a character in your film, the way a location is.

I love what he does but now I’m so used to it as ‘our style’ that I’m pleasantly pleased when people react to it so strongly.

Imagine you were stuck in a huge record store, as they exist in LA, for one night. Which records would you pick and listen to?

The DIVA soundtrack, Nina Simone, Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy, WHAM! Make It Big, I don’t know, I’m old school…

You’re friends with Marc Jacobs and you’ve directed the film “The Powder Room”  for Miu Miu. Is fashion an interesting playground for you as a photographer and director? 

It’s true I do a lot of fashion films and commercials. And I love doing them because they HAVE to look gorgeous and I love playing with that.

And, yes, I love clothes and shoes and bags or whatever but I don’t really follow fashion too much anymore. I went to a lot of shows and cool things over the years and I occasionally still do.

What I really love is the artistry and care and imagination that goes into pieces and seasons.

The person I most admire in fashion is Miuccia Prada.
She’s constantly brilliant and warm and generous and anything she puts her energy to comes out amazing. The people who work with her are amazing. It starts from the top and trickles down.

Guy Bourdin vs Helmut Newton?

Both?

I love Bourdin’s glossiness but no one knew how to bring out strength like Helmut Newton.

You love to write. You’re writing the scenarios of most your movies. Which book has triggered this love for writing?

I have been writing forever. Just making up stories and writing them down. In school I would write everyone’s English papers of them, all with different points of view. It was my one subject that I liked and was good at.

I wrote my first play when I was maybe eight or nine. It just sort of came naturally to me, especially when I was young and I had no fears about how good the quality was. I miss those days of being uninhibited.

Can you tell me a little bit more about your new film project “My Dead Ex” that came out in March?

“My Dead Ex” is not actually my project but I directed a couple of episodes.
It’s a really funny show about a teenage guy who’s so in love with a girl at school that when he tries to impress her he ends up dying, but then coming back to life based on their special bond.
It’s ridiculous and I love it and I was so happy to laugh for a second.

What comes to your mind when you think of Iran?

I have two friends, sisters, who are from Iran and escaped to America with nothing. But their love for their country never lessened and hearing stories about them growing up always made me want to visit.

I think it’s terribly sad that the state of the world is just to be so fearful of things we do not understand.

 

Credits:
Photos:
Zoe Cassavetes’ portrait:  by Sofia Sanchez and Mauro Mongiello
“Junior” film poster (c) Manny Films
“Junior” behind the scenes: by Zoe Cassavetes
“Junior”behind the scenes: by Zoe Cassavetes
“Behind the Door” film poster
“Behind the Door” behind the scene
“Broken English” film poster
“Day out of Days” film poster
Miu Miu’s “The Powder Room”: by Zoe Cassavetes
Miu Miu’s “The Powder Room”: by Zoe Cassavetes
Text: Anahita Vessier

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CAMILLE VIVIER, Surrealism and erotic tension

CAMILLE VIVIER, Surrealism and erotic tension

Camille Vivier’s photos carry you away to a world of romantic surrealism, a melancholic reverie mysteriously and softly blurred. Her free-spirit and sensuality in her artistic univers are intriguing and seductive.

Her photos can be seen in the most prestigious fashion magazines and galleries. She’s also working on music projects, shooting recently the portrait of Dita van Teese and Sebastian Tellier for the cover of their album.

The female body, its sensuality, its eroticism, its diversity are very important issues in your work. What is for you the definition of beauty?

I’m very sensitive to the poetry of beauty. The body is a very classical subject. In my work I question the definition of the word « beauty », of how it is perceived by history of art and also by society.

“In my photos there is of course an aesthetic research but I want that my vision of what is beautiful is above all a subjectif and open suggestion without imposing a definition of beauty.”

This vision can even appear awkward or bizarre. But I really like to go sometimes towards something more odd that might even create some discomfort.

I’m a woman who takes photos of women, expressing eroticism in a total different way than a man would do. I show it in a more abstract way.

Do you like to control and direct a photo shooting or do you prefer to go with the flow and give chance to « accidents » ?

I’m not directive, I let things happen in a climate of confidence.

“In moments of uncertainty and non-control, a lot of interesting accidents can happen.”

However before starting a shooting I already think of the picture and I prepare the references especially for the light which is very important element in my photos.

In your work you play a lot with contrasts, juxtaposing the rough with the smooth, the animated with the inanimate. What is so fascinating for you in the association of two things totally different from each other?

The disturbing bizarreness of the inanimate has always fascinated me.

I love playing with contrasts, bringing together shapes and worlds that are totally different from each other in order to stimulate and create a dialogue between these two objects, like for example a woman’s naked body lying on a sculpture made out of concrete.

This work consists of building a vocabulary between two elements that then communicate with each other.

Beside your personal projects you collaborate regularly with internationally renowned fashion magazines and brands such as Isabel Marant, Stella McCartney, Martin Margiela. Hermès has given you carte blanche for a short movie.

Is there a photographer who you admire and his artistic approach of photographing fashion?

I still remember, it was in the 90s, I was working as an editorial assistant for Purple Magazine when this book of Wolfgang Tillmans came out.

“Tillmans’s vision totally blew me away! I discovered in his photos a complete freedom, an artistic expression that opened my mind, that encouraged me to take pictures, that helped me to overcome my difficult relationship with fashion and the way it was usually presented at that time. His way of showing fashion was more accessible, more spontaneous, free, less glamorous and sleek.”

I love Man Ray’s work too. He was working for fashion but was also working a lot on personal projects involving his recurring codes and themes.

He had taste for objects and for the association of different elements.

My relationship with fashion was not always very simple, but after all these years I have gained confidence as an artist that allowed me to finally impose my vision of fashion, a point of view that is influenced by my personal work. I don’t feel obliged anymore to photographe fashion in a certain way.

In your photos you can feel a kind of romanticism, a softly blurred reverie. Is there a particular source of inspiration?

“I love scenes where you’re carried towards something completely phantasmagoric, scenes that seem distant with this certain dramatic quality even though you can still perceive some fine traces of reality.”

I’m very inspired by classical art. I love the Dutch painters and the way they expressed light and shadow.

I also love to read and dive into an imaginary landscape.
I had a period where I was reading a lot of novels of the french writer André Pierre de Mandiargues. In his books there is this erotic tension set in a surreal universe.

What comes to your mind when you think of Iran?

The contrast between the past and the present.

Credits:
All photos by Camille Vivier
Text: Anahita Vessier
Translation: Anahita Vessier
http://www.camillevivier.com/

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OLIVIER CHÂTENET, The maestro of style

OLIVIER CHÂTENET,
The maestro of style

Olivier Châtenet has worked as a fashion designer for the biggest fashion houses, from Alaïa, Thierry Mugler to Hermès and has launched his own brands, Mario Chanet and E2. During all those years he has built an outstanding collection of vintage fashion and he has one of the biggest and most important collection of Yves Saint Laurent vintage.

Travelling with his vintage collection all around the world curating exhibitions, working as a style consultant for fashion and cinema, he knows all about the perfect cut and has an incredible sense of style.

Where does this big interest for Yves Saint Laurent come from?

When I started to work in fashion in the 80s, Yves Saint Laurent was not at all a brand that I was interested in. At that time his brand has become very classic and bourgeois. The image of Yves Saint Laurent in the 80s was very much about this working girl in her blazer and the straight-cut short skirt.

My passion for his fashion came much later when I started to look for the ultimate perfection of style. And it’s true.

“When you look at some of the pieces that Yves Saint Laurent has designed 30 or 40 years ago, I wouldn’t say they’re modern but just incredibly perfect.”

There is something really timeless about his fashion. Even nowadays I see girls wearing old YSL blouses.
It might seem very classic nowadays but Yves Saint Laurent main concern was that women felt beautiful in his clothes.

Yves Saint Laurent said “A woman is never as feminine as in a man’s suit.” 

Absolutely!

“The contrast between the man’s suite and the woman who wears it enhances her femininity even more.”

Yves Saint Laurent was constantly in quest of THE perfect piece of garment. So in the 60s he observed that the renewal cycle of men’s fashion was much slower, that men’s clothes were much more sustainable.

That’s why he took a lot of pieces from the men’s wardrobe and adapted them for women, like the smoking or the trench coat.

“He often said that he wished he had invented blue jeans because they were just perfect. They were nonchalant, simple and had sex appeal regardless of age, sex or season.”

What was the secret behind Yves Saint Laurent’s creative genius that revolutionized fashion?

“To me Yves Saint Laurent was without any doubt the biggest stylist of the 20th century, but not necessarily the biggest fashion designer.”

He didn’t invent anything. He observed really well and had this extraordinary sensibility to know what women really wanted. His celebrity was built on fashion that already existed, his talent was to observe, to adapt, and to propose at the right moment.

In 1971 when everybody still thought that fashion needed to be inspired by future and needed to look futuristic, Yves Saint Laurent broke this rule and got inspired by the past by showing his famous 40s collection. This collection was a huge scandal and had a very strong impact. It was the beginning of the retro-style. But he didn’t invent it. In the 2nd half of the 60s you can already see this retro-style in fashion shootings in English Vogue showing models wearing clothes of London based designers such as Ossie Clark or Biba.

“Apart from being an excellent styliste he knew perfectly well how to use communication and his image in order to  create, as you would call it today, a huge buzz.”

The best example is the photo of him naked taken by Jean-Loup Sieff in 1971 for the launch of his first fragrance for men. It was huge! Looking at the context of that time it was totally new and revolutionary that a designer used his own image for the promotion of his brand.

Let’s talks about your vintage collection and your  collaboration with Bertrand Bonello on his movie “Saint Laurent”. How was it to work as a style consultant on this project?

It was an amazing experience! It’s initially me who got in touch with Bonnello. I heard about his movie project so I took immediately the phone and left him a message. The next day he called me back, we met two days later and then the collaboration started.

First he gave me the scenario to get my advice and then I met Anaïs Romand, the costume designer. We worked very hard and tried to be as precise as possible. I also gave her all the iconographical material for the reproduction of certain pieces. I was working especially during the preparation phase of the movie and during the shootings of the most important scenes, such as the scenes of the fashion shows.

The best reward for this hard work was when Anaïs Romand won the French film Award, le César, for her costume design for “Saint Laurent”. I was so happy for her!

Besides this film experience and your work as a consultant for the biggest fashion houses in Paris, you’ve also done some exhibitions with your vintage collection in France and abroad, for example the “Crazy about Yves” exhibition in 2012 in Hong Kong. How was the reaction of the Asian public?

The reaction was very enthusiastic. Hong Kong is a young and modern city, so the concept of vintage fashion is very new to the Chinese public.

The “Crazy about Yves” exhibition was shown during the 20th anniversary of the French May Festival. It was the first time that I had total carte blanche for an exhibition and I’ve never shown my collection on such a large scale before.

“Even though he didn’t travel that much, Yves Saint Laurent was very much inspired by Asia in his “imaginary journeys”. When he launched his fragrance Opium his idea was to create a perfume for the Empress of China.”

That’s why the final part of the exhibition was a sort of a “tribute to China” dedicated to his creations from 1970 to 1980 that had an Asian influence.

Is there a quote of Yves Saint Laurent that inspires you?

“The most beautiful clothes that can dress a woman are the arms of the man she loves.”

This quote shows perfectly well his sincere and true admiration for women.

What comes to your mind when you think of Iran?

I think of Farah Diba and divine beauty.

Credits:
Olivier Châtenet’s portray on “Home” page by Christophe Roué
Olivier Châtenet’s portray of article by Angèle Châtenet
Photos:
– Exhibition “40 silhouettes composées d’archives YSL”, Galerie 7.5 / Paris, 2014
Pieces with prints from 1970 – 1978
– Exhibition “Un regard sur Yves Saint Laurent”, Dinan / France, 2017
Pieces inspired by the safari jacket from 1968 – 1975
– Exhibition “40 silhouettes composées d’archives YSL”, Galerie 7.5 / Paris, 2014
Pieces with prints from 1971 – 1983
– Portray of Yves Saint Laurent by Jean-Loup Sieff, 1971
– Catwalk scene of Bertand Bonello’s film “Saint Laurent”
– Exhibition “Un regard sur Yves Saint Laurent”, Dinan / France, 2017
Pieces of the “China” collection, Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Autumn / Winter 1979/80
– Exhibition “Golden Needle”, Joyce / Hong Kong 2016
Pieces by Dries Van Noten, by Marni and vintage
– Exhibition “Golden Needle”, Joyce / Hong Kong 2016
Pieces by Marc Jacobs and Junya Watanabe/Comme des Garçons
Text: Anahita Vessier
Translation: Anahita Vessier
http://www.olivierchatenet.com/

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IMAN RAAD, Disturbance to reality

IMAN RAAD,
Disturbance to reality

Drawing from Persian miniature painting, South Asian truck ornaments and digital glitch imagery, Iman Raad’s work has immediately impressed me because of its intensity, its explosive mix of colours and the contradictory combination of beauty and fear, pleasure and pain. Looking at his paintings the viewer witnesses a moment of rupture, a frozen moment of reality when something is about to happen.

In this interview this Iranian born Brooklyn based artist guides us through his latest work that has been recently shown at the Sargent’s Daughters Gallery in New York.

Observing your work, you’re using elements of folklore Persian mythology such as typographic details and allusions to Persian miniature. Is this Iranian culture and folklore an important source of inspiration for you?

Yes, It has always been sort of like that. But it’s actually beyond a source of inspiration. It’s a basis of my thinking structure, either subconscious or brought on consciously.

I attempt not to indicate “iconically” to Persian culture in my work, so you could hardly recognize elements of folklore. Iconic indication to “other ” cultures is a Western approach to art because it’s an obvious representation of other cultures and is available to be taken out of its context and is easy to communicate and so to consume.

“But my work constantly refers to Persian culture “indexically”, since this is rooted in my thoughts. I have lived with this culture, I breath it, I learn from it and I construct my language to dialogue with art history through it.”

This is, I believe, the contemporary approach to ethnicity and cultural identity.

You’ve recently had a solo show “Tongue Tied” at the Sargent’s Daughters Gallery in New York. Could you explain a little bit more your latest work for this show.

In the exhibition there was a variety of works that I have made in 2016, all under the umbrella of one single title: ”Tongue Tied’.

“To me paintings represent a moment of disturbance to reality.”

I create this disturbance through wrong perspective, disordering physical rules, image replication inspired by digital glitch on screens as well as representing momentary events as threshold of a crisis. Objects and fruits appear to be self-conscious animate things.

In the ‘Tongue Tied” show there is a series of 9×12 inch egg-tempera paintings that were lying down on their individual narrow shelves. I recently started painting with egg-tempera on panels. The process is slow and tiring which I hate, though I seriously need this sort of meditative time. I enjoy the way egg’s yolk flows on smooth surface of claybord panels, and so the texture that unmixed pigments make. The colors are bright and I like the way it looks like painted tiles.

I also showed a large marker painting on paper that I’ve created earlier. This drawing represent a complex interplay of ornamental tablecloth, wallpaper and carpet interrupted by long rows of overlapping birds move across the painting. It took me a month to finish this 5-foot-by-7-foot drawing.

The Hero of the exhibition, I sometimes call it Don Quixote, is a flat figure kneeling down with a flag in his hand and a self-portrait of me on his chest imitating Barbara Kruger’s work “Your Body is a Battleground”.

The show also includes a site-specific large-scale mural painting on the walls of Sargent’s Daughters Gallery’s office. This was made in four days with two assistants and lasted for the exhibition time.

You’ve done also a lecture performance called “Two-headed Imagomancy” with Shahrzad Changalvaee, another Iranian artist and your wife: What does the title mean and what is this performance about?

Shahrzad and I both come from a graphic design background. We were members of the Dabireh Collective before we left Iran. The Dabireh Collective was founded by Reza Abiding in 2008. It was a collective of graphic designers, type designers and linguists researching with a focus on Persian language, alphabet, calligraphy and typography.
Since we’ve been moving to the US we got offers to talk about our graphic works and we decided to turn our talk to a collaborative lecture-performance in form of storytelling.

“Its form is inspired by Pardeh-khani, a form of storytelling tradition common in coffee-houses in Iran.”

Our narrative comes with stories within stories, some historicals, some personals, some myths or fictions. But all stories deal with language and script, mainly Persian-Arabic script history. Each performance has an exclusive unique backdrop painting, containing illustrations for the story and a significant image referring to the venue that it’s happening in.

“Two-headed” in the title refers to us as the storyteller couple and “imagomancy”, we made it by combination of imago + mancy. “Imago” is the Latin word for “Image” and “-mancy” refers to the divination of a particular kind, like bibliomancy, geomancy or palmomancy. So “Imagomancy” means the divination by means of images.

The poems of Hafiz or Rumi are very present in everyday life in Iran. Is there a poem that guides you through life?

Not really any specific I could remember. Maybe generally as you say it’s present in Iranians everyday-life, it has affected my thoughts subconsciously like almost all Iranians.

Any future projects?

To keep working.

Credits:
All works by Iman Raad
Text: Anahita Vessier
 http://www.imanraad.com/

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VAQAR, The new generation of fashion avant-garde

VAQAR, The new generation of fashion avant-garde

Vaqar is a cool Iranian fashion label based in Tehran that has participated in the prestigious LVMH Prize For Young Fashion Designers in 2016.

Behind this young label there are two beautiful and creative sisters, Shiva and Shirin Vaqar, designing fashion in a contemporary style with an universal appeal and bringing a fresh wind and a redefined concept of modernity into the international fashion scene.

They will show their Spring/Summer 2018 collection during Paris Fashion Week in September.

In 2016 you’ve been invited to participate at the LVMH Prize For Young Fashion Designers. How was this experience? Was it the first time that you were presenting your fashion brand outside of Iran?

It was an amazing experience like a turning point for us and it encouraged us to push ourselves harder. It was our first time we presented our work outside of Iran.

Despite the fact that there is neither a fashion school in Iran nor an institution that supports young Iranian fashion designers, how come you’ve decided to work in fashion? What did you study initially and when did you launch your label “Vaqar”?

I studied Business Management and Shirin studied Visual Arts. We’ve always had this desire to work together and fashion was something that we were both very curious about. So we decided to give it a try and started Vaqar in 2013.

Tell me more about the fashion scene in Iran. Do you observe a progress in the support and promotion of Iranian fashion labels?

Recently fashion is getting more serious in Iran and there is more support. The biggest support comes from the Iranian people who have started to give more attention to Iranian brands. That’s why there are also more fashion events which is a big motivation for us designers.

“We think it is just the beginning of Iranian fashion and in a few years it will get even better.”

Your style is very contemporary with a universal appeal. What inspires you? Is Iranian culture a source of inspiration for you?

We get inspiration from almost everything. We always try to modernize the outdated styles with a new and fresh approach based on our inspirations.

“The impact of our cultural heritage on our clothes is undeniable.”

The values that are the conclusion of our culture can have an impact on our mindset and eventually on our clothes.

Your modern and very constructive style in monochromatic colors reminds me of fashion icons such as Yohji Yamamoto or Rei Kawakubo. Have these designers influenced your creative evolution?

We love Yohji Yamamoto. However the colors we use are totally based on the concepts we choose and the concepts we choose are the result of our mood in a certain period of time. So we don’t feel any obligation in our work to use just monochromatic colors.

Being sisters, what is the advantage or disadvantage of working together?

We haven’t felt any disadvantage at all, on the contrary. As we know each other very well, it’s easier for us to understand each others’ points of view and to get to a final idea or decision. Our different skills can complete each other and make them more efficient.

Do you work with music? What are you listening to right now while working on your next collection?

Music is a big part in our design progress. Recently we’re listening to Olafur Arnalds tracks, especially Til Enda and Gleypa okkur.

When and where will you show your next collection? Could you give me a little idea about the look of your Spring/Summer 2018 collection?

We usually present a collection at the beginning of each season in Tehran and twice a year at Paris Fashion Week.
This year we will probably show our Spring/Summer 2018 collection during Paris Fashion Week end of September.

“The look of the next collection will be a modern version of traditional garments with an affection for Iranian ancient statues.”

You’re living in Tehran, what do you like about this city? What are your favorite spots?

The thing we like about Tehran is its nostalgia.
Our favorite spots are places like Tehran Bazaar, Tajrish…

Credits:
All creations: Vaqar
Text: Anahita Vessier
http://vaqar.com/
https://www.instagram.com/_vaqar_//

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DELPHINE DELAFON, Bohemian punk rock chic amazon

DELPHINE DELAFON,
Bohemian punk rock chic amazon

Delphine Delafon’s bucket bag is THE item that all the girls from Paris to Tokyo are crazy about. It’s already a “classic”.

Her workshop in the Xth district in Paris is like Ali Baba’s Cave filled with extraordinary fabrics, exotic leathers in incredible colors, all sorts of trimmings where Delphine, this tall bohemian-punk-rock-chic amazon with her husky voice, receives her clients, designs her unique collections and manufactures her stylish bags.

When did you decide to launch your own brand?

Since I’ve been 15, I wanted to have my own brand and sell my own creations that carry my name.

It started during my pregnancy. I was at home and made a bag for myself. My girlfriends saw it and immediately wanted one too, and then friends of friends and so on. I’ve invited them over to my house so they could choose the materials and fabrics. The idea was that each of them has her very own, personalized bag.
Through word of mouth I’ve got more and more clients that after 2 years it became a serious business.
The first 500 bags were all made by myself with my sewing machine in my kitchen. But at one point the orders got so big that I decided to delegate the work and get a real workshop.

Since the beginning of your brand, you offer your clients a “made-to-mesure” service. Do you think that nowadays there’s a big demande for one-of-a-kind pieces?

Even though I’ve launched a collection of bags some seasons ago that are made outside my workshop, a kind of a ready-to-wear collection to be more accessible and to respond to shop orders, the request of the “made-to-mesure” offer is constantly growing.

“Nowadays clients are ready to spend more money in order to have their one-of-a-kind Delphine Delafon bag. They appreciate the savoir-faire and the fact that it’s made in my workshop in Paris. They love to come to my atelier, to meet me and choose together the materials for their bag.”

Each Delphine Delafon bag is made in limited edition and numbered.

After the bags, you’re launching now a fashion line. What is the common thread between the bags and the clothes?

For my fashion line I would like to keep the same concept as for the bags, keep the manufacturing as handcrafted as possible, and 100% made in France. There’s no label sewn inside the clothes, but they’re signed “Delphine Delafon” by myself.
I would also like to keep the concept of clients coming to my workshop and have their clothes personalized.

For me these kind of details are extremely important, to show that it’s all about craftsmanship. I’ve noticed that people are very receptive for the designer’s feelings towards his own creations and his brand.

Instead of doing a catwalk show, your Spring/Summer 2017 presentation was a big social festive happening. Your Autumn/Winter 2017/18 presentation was a 3 hours performance inspired by traditional catholic Silician funerals mixed with punk elements and neon lights. That’s a very unconventional way to show your collection.

“I would like to be conventional but I just can’t. So I continue doing it in my own way.”

Each show is an intense collaboration with a group of people that I like a lot and where everybody brings in ideas. I love to collaborate with friends who know me and my artistic universe and build a project together.

Where do you find this amazing variety of fabrics and leather?

Fortunately there are still some suppliers in Paris not far from my workshop where I get beautiful leather, lizard skin, python skin, alligator skin in all different colors.

I find a lot of the fabrics on my trips. My boyfriend has been living in Vietnam and Cambodia for one year, so I went to see him quite a lot and bought beautiful old traditional fabrics. I’ve also been to Kenia last year where I’ve found fabrics with amazing African prints.

Is there an artist, dead or alive, that you adore?

Since I’m 12 I’m obsessed with fashion photography.

“My all time favorite is Helmut Newton. I love the atmosphere and the sexual aesthetics in his pictures.”

Is there an art piece that you love and that overwhelms you?

Music is fascinating to me because it’s something very abstract and intangible but can evoke very strong emotions.
I’m a huge fan of the Beatles and especially the song “While my guitar gently weeps” is lifting me out of the ordinary and takes me to an imaginary place every time I listen to it.

What comes to your mind when you think of Iran?

I think of a country who has a very strong and intense political history and of the status and condition of women which is a subject that I care about a lot.

Credits:
Portray by Nina Koltchitskaia
Spring Summer 2017 Collection and rest of photos by Basile Mookherjee
Text: Anahita Vessier
Translation: Anahita Vessier
http://www.delphinedelafon.com/

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