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ÀCHEVAL PAMPA, Amazons of style

ÀCHEVAL PAMPA, Amazons of style

Inspired by her childhood memories that she has spent riding on horses in the Pampas, the Argentinian stylist Sofia Achaval de Montaigu is paying tribute to the horsemen of this wide expanse of land by launching with her friend and partner Lucila Sperber the lifestyle brand Àcheval Pampa.

With her long blond hair, wearing one of those famous bombachas, the gauchos’ pants that became the key piece of the label, and the black hat, Sofia has this intriguing exoticism, a natural elegance and a poetic and sophisticated look. This urban amazon represents perfectly well the spirit of the brand.

Since its launch at the Ritz in Paris last year, Àcheval Pampa is a real success, seduces all the it-girls from Paris to Buenos Aires and promotes with a lot of chic and sophistication the beauty of the Pampa and its unique craftsmanship.

Behind your label Àcheval Pampa, there is you and Lucila Sperber. How did you get the idea to create together a brand inspired by the gauchos of the Pampas?

It was always my dream to launch one day my own brand inspired by the gauchos. I grew up in Buenos Aires but every holiday and every weekend I’ve spent in the Pampas where my family possesses land.

During my entire childhood, I grew up riding on horses in this wide stretch of grassland wearing the traditional gaucho clothes.

During my studies of fashion design at studio Berçot in Paris, I’ve often worn the bombachas, the pants of the gauchos, the typical horseman boots or the ponchos. This style was natural to me but my friends were completely fascinated and wanted to know where I’ve bought those clothes.

I’ve met Lucila several years later when I was working as a stylist for a Rochas campagne because she’s the brand manager of this fashion label for South America.
The idea to create together a brand inspired by the gauchos was born at that moment.

What exactly is so fascinating for you about the gaucho style and the Pampa, this wide region between Uruguay, Argentina and the south of Brazil?

The Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges said once

‘The Pampa is like a horizontal vertigo’.

I love this description. We have embroidered his quote on our shirts, because it describes perfectly well the sensation that you have under this intense sun and those miles of empty grassland in front of you.

The clothing of the gauchos with their hats, their pants, their ponchos and their leather boots have this great look and chic.

Our intention with Àchval Pampa is to extract this timeless elegance of men’s clothing and turn it into something feminine by adding sophistication, a bit of romanticism and poetry.

This reminds me of Yves Saint Laurent who said ‘A woman is never as feminine as in a man’s suit’. 

I’m a huge fan of Monsieur Saint Laurent. And he’s absolutely right. Yves Saint Laurent took a lot of inspiration in mens’ clothes and adapted them for women. These pieces became iconic with a timeless elegance. He was inspired by different cultures like Asia, Morocco and also by the gaucho style but added a modern elegance and a european chic.

And that’s exactly our goal with Àcheval Pampa.

We want to create a wardrobe that contains beautiful classics, with a refined ethnic elegance that is accessible to everybody and can be worn a whole life.

That’s why we keep our key pieces every season and add a small selection of well-chosen new pieces.

The center of our collections are the pants that we propose in various very luxurious fabrics. Around theses key pieces we have added shirts, capes, dresses, skirts and for the coming winter a jacket.

We give a great importance to the choice of our fabrics and the cut of our clothes. They have to be perfectly cut and also comfortable so you can wear them from morning to night.

There are also the belts and the jewelry that are designed by other artists that you invite for collaborations. 

Yes, absolutely. The belts and the jewelry are designed by the amazing artist Luna Paiva who is known for her huge bronze sculptures. For this capsule collection she took her inspiration from this very particular sky of the magical pampa with its intense sun and moon.

Luna is drawing first the design and then making the moulds by hand at her studio.

Are you thinking of future collaborations with other artists?

We really like the idea of collaborations because it brings another point of view to the collection which is very interesting, but it needs to happen in a very natural way without being forced.

But we will certainly continue working wit Luna because we love her artistic universe a lot. It is in perfect harmony with the Àcheval Pampa style.

It-girls like Kendall Jenner or Meghan Markle are big fans of Àcheval Pampa and Delfina Blaquier has worn this beautiful blue dress at the royal wedding of Harry and Maghan. 

Yes, Delfina looked stunning in this dress!
And the fact that she was wearing it at that this very particular event has created a huge buzz on social media and has given the brand an enormous visibility, just a few months after the brand’s launch at the Ritz in Paris.

Delfina and her husband Nacho Figueras, the famous polo player, are part of the Àcheval Pampa adventure and the best ambassadors of the label. We’re all very good friends, and share the same love for Argentina, its breathtaking beauty and unique craftsmanship.

Production wise you put a lot of importance into traditional craftsmanship and you’re working with small local workshops. Do you think that this is the new definition of luxury, to produce less and to focus on handcraft ? 

Absolutely! For us it’s very important that the entire collection is produced in the Pampa. Our pants and shirts are made in Uruguay, the belts in the south of Brazil and the bags are made by the best manufacturer in Argentina that is specialized in making horse saddles for the gauchos, their savoir-faire is impressive. And our black hats are made by a family that is making only this style.

We really do care about the « Made in the Pampas ». It’s also an opportunity to give work to all those incredibly talented craftsman and helps that this unique traditional handcraft doesn’t disappear.

Àcheval Pampa is above all a life style brand, not a designer label, that is very versatile. It can exist in many other ways such as fragrance or furniture.

2018 was the year of Àcheval Pampa’s successful launch. Could you give us already a little hint about your projects in 2019?

In March we will present our Autumn / Winter collection at the Ritz.

We’ll be also busy travelling. We’re very lucky to have the best shops all around the world that sell our clothes and that organize events around our label.

These trips and encounters with the boutiques and clients are very important for a brand like us because it gives life to the label and allows to have direct contact with our customers and to understand what each woman likes in our collections.

We might also launch men’s clothing because there are so many who would love to wear our pants.

What comes to your mind when you think of Iran?

I think of colors, spices.
It reminds me also of Argentina because both countries have a strong culture.
And I would love to go there.

Credits:
All photos © Àcheval Pampa
e-Shop: https://acheval-pampa.myshopify.com
Text: Anahita Vessier
Translation: Anahita Vessier

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MATHIAS KISS, The artist with the golden hand

MATHIAS KISS, The artist with the golden hand

Mathias Kiss is a French artist, iconoclast and dandy with boundless creative energy. In his art he folds academicism to find new codes and to break down the barriers between disciplines by association French classicism and avant-gardism.

His extravagant and oversized installations are shown in the most prestigious galeries and museums such as the Palais de Tokyo or the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and his artistic universe seduces luxury brands like Hermès or Boucheron.

When did you decide to become an artist?

I’ve started an apprenticeship as a painter and glazier when I was 14 years old. When I was 17, I’ve joined the Compagnon du Devoir where I’ve been working for 15 years. My dream was to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris if I had the chance.
But finally all these periods in my life have given me the tools, skills and knowledge to do the work that I’m doing today.

My art is inspired by my life with all the traumatizing experiences.

What kind of trauma?

Which girl wants to go out with a construction painter!

Failing school when you’re 14 and starting a job when you’re so young is very complicated. Nobody was interested in a guy like me. Everybody was studying, doing a white-collar job, being a graphic designer etc.
It was really hard to feel alone and to be considered as an outsider.

How would you define yourself? Craftsman? Artist?

When I was with the Compagnons, my only goal was to become as good craftsman so my boss wouldn’t get angry and shout at me because the sky on the ceiling wasn’t perfectly painted.

I couldn’t even imagine to have thoughts like « Why not painting the sky red instead of blue? ».

Many years later I’ve managed to emancipate myself and get free from the rigid conventions and move towards art.

At the being of my career as an artist, people didn’t know what to think of my work, which category they could place it. Fortunately some trusted me and encouraged the others to buy my work.

Why this urge to break the rules ?

When you work for the Compagnons you grow up with a compass and a triangle which is symbolizing the rules. People of my age weren’t interested in my work. Too classic, too rigid, too dusty. I needed to break down these barriers, free myself from these technical and aesthetic conventions.

So I was wondering how it would be possible to preserve the historical codes of French savoir-faire and incorporate them and place them into a contemporary context.

My work consists of two groups of artwork:

One is under the title « Sans 90° » which contains all the work inspired by the thought around the absence of the right angle such as the mirrors « Miroirs Froisées », the trompe l’oeil marble « Igloo » seat, the « Magyar » carpet.

The other group entitled « Golden Snake » gathers all the work that deals with experimenting with architectural elements of French classicism and questioning the artistic working process.

Why is gold such an interesting material for you as it takes a very important part in your work?

Gold is light, is life. It’s not only opulent, kitschy or outdated.

Gold allows to engage a conversation about power, for example the power of seduction of a woman enhancing this by wearing jewelry, or the power of men, who have always fought for possessing it.

Are there new challenges that you would like to face in your work?

As a Compagnon I’ve been working in all the important historical dwellings of the French Republic, such as the Comédie Française, Opera Garnier, Conseil d’État, and many others. Even though I had the chance to work in those sumptuous places, I was very unsatisfied with my work and decided to turn to contemporary art.

So a perfect mix of both experiences would be to build installations for public spaces, a kind of tribute to Paris, the city of sights and museums.

I’m thinking for example of adapting my installation « Golden Snake » that has been exposed at Palais de Tokyo for an urban environment where kids can climb on it or people can sit on it.
That would be an interesting project and a real challenge.

Aren’t you feeling anxious when you’re standing in front of those wide empty spaces at the beginning of a project?

The bigger the space, the more I dig it! To me it’s like a huge white sheet of paper where I can let my artistic imagination run wild.

You’ve done a lot of thai boxing and you have been even participation in official competitions until you were 30. During your exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo you’ve invited the world box champion Patrick Quarteron to have a little box match together in front of your installation « Golden Snake » for the magazine Numéro. What have art and boxing in common? 

It’s true that people don’t see the points that these two worlds have in common.

A boxer is a guy, standing half-naked on a stage trying to win and being applauded by the audience that is standing around and watching. This is total narcissism and exhibitionism, isn’t it!  The need of love and standing in the lime light is not far from an artist.

Both are also taking risks, accepting knocks and leaping into the unknown.

 What’s your next project?

A carte blanche project for the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille for April 2019.

What comes to your mind when you think of Iran?

The sumptuous festivities that were given by the Shah of Iran to celebrate the 2500th anniversary of the Persian empire. It’s crazy that people still talk about it. It almost became a kind of monument, a very strong symbol.

Credits:
All photos by David Zagdoun
Except:
Featured image of Mathias Kiss on Home by Wendy Bevan
Photo of Mathais Kiss and Patrick Quarteron by Stépahne Gallois for Numéro
http://www.mathiaskiss.com
Text: Anahita Vessier
Translation: Anahita Vessier

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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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