Shirazeh Houshiary - The Only Constant is Change by Wolf, Lucas

Artist Profile - Shirazeh Houshiary

luwolf — 2024-03-30 03:06:28 UTC

Shirazeh Houshiary was born in 1955 in Iran, beginning her artistic prospects with an interest in theatre. She decided to move to London in 1974, with the rising movement behind the Iranian Revolution being one of her motivators to leave. Here, she expanded her usage of materials to other mediums at the Chelsea School of Art. She is a multi-media artist who uses a wide variety of mediums and materials within her works. She was interested in both art and mathematics, her father being both an architect and musician, which would go on to direct her interest in how mathematics can represent fundamental universal forces, with Carlo Rovelli, a theoretical physicist, as one of her inspirations with his work on gravitational waves. This idea of art working as waves where they change states and properties would propel her to expand to these other mediums, moving from sculpture to paints and video. She doesn’t want the medium of her art to be a limiting factor in its changing nature, so she works in a large variety. (Spence 2019, Bakewell 2011)

Much of her work stems from a basis of mathematics, in combination with her background in Sufism. Her works take on a mystical nature, obscuring the line between foundational, basic mathematic universal forces and the universe's river-like, mystical notions of self, identity, and purpose. Her works often use light, which is important to mathematics and Sufism, and repeat patterns and phrases that combine to create a whole work, more than the sum of its parts. (Thorpe-Guyton 1989)

To quote her connection to her art idea and her personality, when she moved to London she "wanted to be part of something. [She] wanted affirmation." However, in the discovery of her art and the ties to the universe, she has "transcended that. It doesn’t matter to [her]." Her art and ideas about the universe are constantly changing and shifting, and her art reflects this belief- she wanted to surpass her name, nationality, and culture, and art was the language that anyone could speak- hence why she didn’t go into the mathematical field. (Spence 2019)

"How do you fix life? It is a stream that moves constantly around us; we cannot fix it or make it tangible." (TateShots 2014)

This quote from Houshiary was the inspiration for my exhibition. The one constant I saw reflected in her work was that of change. Her work continuously emulated rivers as it flowed between mediums, scale, lightness, and intensity. She takes the messiness of unpredictable chaos and forms its curves and tensions out of fundamental building blocks. Her works invoke tensions between visual weight, being both ephemerally floaty and nebulous while at the same time being almost mathematical in their foundations of repeating patterns and symbols. Her works as a reference to one’s identity as both a fundamental aspect of oneself, and yet an unfathomably tiny notion in the ever-changing cacophony of existence is just so incredible. Honestly, It really helped me put into perspective where I fall with my own art and ideas. It's certainly not often that I see an idea that has such clarity alongside the ability to change, and I believe this is the most powerful aspect of her work. Her work offers a point for introspection, critical of such a divisive modern era. The exhibition theme I chose was this theme of self, and recognition of one's place in reality, where visitors can experience the duality of light and dark, weight and weightlessness, and find themselves in the middle of it all.

Duet, 2020, Cast Aluminum, 85 x 132 x 35 cm

luwolf — 2024-03-30 03:17:59 UTC

Commission for St. Martin in the Fields London, 2008, Etched mouth blown glass and shot peened stainless steel frame

luwolf — 2024-03-30 03:20:34 UTC

Aura & Twilight, 2019, Cast Glass, Stainless Steel and Perspex, 140 x 31 x 67

luwolf — 2024-03-30 03:24:58 UTC

Allegory of Sight, 2015, Cast Stainless Steel, 120 x 43 x 43 cm

luwolf — 2024-03-30 03:26:36 UTC

The Veil, 1999, Acrylic paint and graphite on canvas, 1902 x 1902 x 36 mm

luwolf — 2024-03-30 04:32:08 UTC

Echo, 2013, Pencil, pigments and black aquacryl on canvas and aluminum, diptych

luwolf — 2024-03-30 04:33:41 UTC

Allegory of Sound, 2015, Cast Stainless Steel, 130 x 46.5 x 35 cm

luwolf — 2024-03-30 08:03:45 UTC

A Deluge, 2014, 540 x 190 cm

luwolf — 2024-03-30 08:04:44 UTC

Tear, 2011, Anodized Aluminum, 122 x 67 x 37 cm

luwolf — 2024-03-30 08:05:34 UTC

Room 5 & 6 - Cathedral Wall and Exit Hallway

luwolf — 2024-04-18 05:23:29 UTC

The final works in the Exhibition (minus the re-visiting of Duet) are perhaps the most unique- firstly, a large, cathedral-esque window commissioned for St. Martin in the Fields. This piece stands out amongst the rest of the exhibition as an architectural piece, only subverting the perception of Houshiary's style and technique more and more. It is one of her older pieces, but the distorting oval in the center warping and bending the grid of steel is reminiscent of gravity, a fundamental force in the universe and symbol of the chaos disturbing order at grand scale. The religious aspect of the piece serves to push the viewer to expand their experience outwards from the self, the massive overhead window a clear view into reality itself. I would ideally have a view of nature on the other side to call attention back to the outside world. Past the cathedral lays a final work by Houshiary, Veil. A black square, entirely opposite to the grandeur and lightness of the window, serves to draw the viewer inward. Its ambiguity is due to its meaning- to "find the essence of my own existence, transcending name, nationality, cultures." This self reflection should be the culmination of the exhibition, calling back to the theme of and recognition of one's place in reality, the duality of light and dark within themselves and who they are, fundamentally. Its ambiguity leads itself to close inspection, the inscriptions of text barely even visible, and the subtle gradations in value meant to slowly emerge as one looks closer.

Room 1 - Entranceway

luwolf — 2024-04-18 05:25:25 UTC

Duet is the entryway piece in my exhibition. It's a distinct, clear symbol of the fundamentals within Houshiary's work- Balance in color and form, dynamic movement, and poetic imbalance. It's simple to understand, and upon seeing it for the first time, visitors will immediately feel the duality. In my design, I want to orient it so that upon finishing their gallery walk, they are confronted with it once again, to consolidate and reflect upon it after seeing the the more nuanced materials experienced within the exhibition.

I will have the Artist Profile on the wall next to the piece, to encourage viewers to get familiarized with it as a guide to Houshiary's work.

Room 2 - Human Perception

luwolf — 2024-04-18 05:44:11 UTC

Allegory of Sound and Allegory of Sight are where the exhibition begins to personalize the duality of Houshiary's work, confronting two senses in both their name and visual representation. As the second set of pieces in the exhibition, the Allegories aim to make the viewer reflect inwardly, and think about their own experiences with their senses. Allegory of Sight uses an overhead light to cast a shadow of itself on the wall, slowly obscuring and blurring as it's length grows. The shadow becomes the focus of the art, but the form itself still has much to discover, prompting them to look a bit closer at some of Houshiary's work. Allegory of Sound is a stark black against the white wall, commanding attention with it's density and presence. This is in contrast to the softness of Sight, and is the first relationship between two works within the exhibition.

Room 3 - Tension in Order

luwolf — 2024-04-18 05:46:20 UTC

From the Allegories we come off the wall to an arrangement of three forms. Tear is a pillar of solid aluminum bricks, vibrant shades of blue contrasting the black and white metals of the earlier pieces. Tear is a very intriguing piece regarding its texture, and I think it's uniqueness makes it work well as a transition from the heavy sculptural forms to that of lighter glass and colors appearing later in the exhibition. It consists of solid aluminum bricks with hollow forms between, spiraling in a wild manner but held solid by the weight of the material. Its overall shape is one of motion and dynamism, reflecting the colors and tendencies of water, yet is made up of solid metal rectangular bricks one would build a sturdy structure from, a distinct contrast between the chaos of the form and a concreteness of the individual. Aura & Twilight follow a similar style, instead returning to grayscale with pillars of black and white glass, not only contrasting each-other, but in opposition to the opaque metal used in Tear. These figures are made of the same rectangular bricks, but the glass material makes them feel weightless and fluid, with light bouncing and reflecting through them like crystal. The differences and similarities between all three are a chaotic trio- but even so, each has aspects of one another, Tear's hollow bricks imitating the glass while contrasting grayscale versus chromatic. With these three I hope to showcase the different materials Houshiary is proficient in, as a transition to her paintings just after.

Room 4 - I am, and I am not.

luwolf — 2024-04-18 05:48:26 UTC

This duo of diptych paintings were the starting point of my understanding Houshiary's work. Hearing her explain Echo was just incredible. Echo is built of many small repeated arcs, swirling together to create distinct areas of light and dark. The detail in the way she utilized form to create a distinct separation between two subjects that softens the closer one observes the piece, "It gives the possibility... that light and dark can be unified."
A Deluge stems from the same show as Allegory of Sight and Sound. It is a far airier piece than Echo- rather than deep blues, it emulates a swirling nebula of blue and violet clouds on a backdrop of white, like falling snow. It is a diptych as well- mirroring Echo- but the foundational aspect is much different, a repetition of Islamic words repeated to a seemingly infinitesimal degree, becoming illegible and almost atomic in nature. It houses a degree of vertical symmetry alongside Echo's diagonal cut, both pieces expansive yet precise.

"Glass is a material of dreams."

luwolf — 2024-04-18 05:52:22 UTC

"Our perception is limited by our design"

luwolf — 2024-04-18 05:52:52 UTC

"When you look at nature it looks chaotic, but when you get closer you see it is logic"

luwolf — 2024-04-18 05:53:26 UTC