AMIR HOSSEIN AKHAVAN
Artist's statement
As an artist of the 21st century, my focus is to derive from my experience of the world an aesthetic that speaks of this time in a manner that has been successfully executed for several centuries. Painting is an orchestration of shapes in any number of ways to create an interesting visual dynamic within a context, most commonly a rectangle. In today’s open art world however, there is no rule of how a painting should be made or the context in which it must exist, precisely therein lays its most cotemporary challenge.
My efforts in painting are derivative of a studious and a widely exposed passion in the field. I gather inspiration as much from the history of art as I do in my daily life, nurturing influence in the approach of many predecessors. Researching their different approaches to image making has not only inspired my own aesthetic, but encompasses my participation in a chain that takes root deep in human history. While I hope my paintings are a feat in today’s world, my ambitions in making them are nothing new. Life’s experiences today however, are indeed unprecedented for all of us, because right now was never before.
The dynamic of my life’s circumstances, split between an intimate participation in two very different social situations inspires a dichotomy in my work reflective of both Middle eastern art history, as well as the tradition of painting emerging from the European Renaissance.
