Afshin Naghouni

Afshin Naghouni is an Iranian-born British visual artist. He is known for his controversial, larger-than-life paintings.[2][3] From a critique about Naghouni’s paintings around the turn of the century: he works in an expressive and cubist style that explores every aspect of each object in his compositions, simultaneously.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

Afshin Naghouni
Afshin Naghouni & Silvana Maragliulo, 2021, London
Born
Persian: ‎افشین ناغونی

25 August 1969 (age 53)[1]
Ahvaz, Iran
NationalityBritish
Alma materLondon Metropolitan University, Sir John Cass Department of Art, Media and Design
Known forPainting, Mixed media
Notable workNational Property, The Abstraction of Reality, Universal Soldier, The Veil, Disillusions III, An Abstract Sense of Life (Series)
MovementContemporary art
Websiteafshinnaghouni.com

Early life and education

Afshin Naghouni (Ash) was born in Ahvaz, Iran, the son of Sediheh (née Mohammadzaal) and Jahangir Naghouni.

Naghouni was considered to be a child prodigy. For as long as he remembers he was holding a pen or a pencil. He started painting and drawing when he was four or five years old. As a reward, if he had good marks in school, he would go to painting classes during the summer holiday.[12][13]

When Naghouni was 9 years old, he went to his first oil painting class and then began emulating the paintings of Caravaggio, John Constable and others. He won a number of regional and national painting competitions between the ages of nine and twelve.[13][14]

Nagouni completed his postgraduate work at London Metropolitan University in the Sir John Cass Department of Art, Media, and Design.[15]

When Naghouni was 24 years old, he was attending a birthday party when the building was attacked by the Islamic religious police and fell out of the building trying to escape. The fall damaged his spinal cord and left him in a wheelchair. The events surrounding Naghouni's fall were the subject of a 2014 TV documentary called Out of Focus.[16][17][18][19]

Career

In the summer of 2021, Naghouni unveiled the series in London, entitled An Abstract Sense of Life. [20]

In an interview with Maryam Eisler, Nagouni said he was inspired by Kiefer, Cecily Brown and Caravaggio. Regarding Kiefer and his larger pieces, Naghouni is inspired by Kiefer's ability to create amazing compositions within the sheer scale of his work, and adding that Kiefer is one of those few artists who has found the perfect balance between form and concept.[21][22][23]

Selected exhibitions
  • 2017
    • Group show, Beyond the Ban: Contemporary Iranian art, Susan Eley Gallery, New York City[24]
  • 2016
    • Group show, Art with an Iranian Flavour..” Capsule A selection of Contemporary Art, in partnership with Fiat Chrysler Motor Village UK and Monica Colussi, London[25]
    • Group show, CONTEXT Art Miami, Shirin Gallery, Miami.[26]
    • Group show, Art for Youth, including The Afshin Naghouni Reach Prize, Mall Galleries, London [27][28][29]
  • 2015
    • Solo show, Satire, Hay Hill Gallery, London [30]
  • 2014
    • Solo show, Objectification II, Go Figurative, London [31][32]
  • 2013
  • 2010 to 2014
  • 2002
  • 2001
    • Solo show, Afshin Naghouni Solo Exhibition, St. Rafael Gallery, London
  • 2000 to 2009
  • 1997
    • Solo Show, Afshin Naghouni Solo Exhibition, Aaran Gallery, Tehran

Activism

As of 2011, Naghouni was the chairman of the Westminster Action Network on Disability.[35]

Naghouni was one of 45 Iranian artists who demanded the releases of filmmakers Mohammad Nourizad and Jafar Panahi.[36] Beyond the Ban was a collaboration between the Center for Human Rights in Iran and Susan Eley Fine Art, New York.[37][38] It featured works from Naghouni and American-based Iranian artists including Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari, and Hossein Fatemi.[39]

Mahsa Amini Protests

After the Iranian government killed Mahsa Amini, protests that started at Mahsa’s funeral soon erupted throughout Iran,[40] then quickly in cities around the world. Very soon into the protests, there were renewed talks of bringing down the Islamic regime; moreover, such ambitions would need leaders.[41]

BBC News reporter Jiyar Gol was recording from a London protest in Trafalgar Square on the 1st of October, 2022. Gol asked for Naghouni’s thoughts about the growing movement. Naghouni mentioned how powerful these protests were for human rights, globally; the protests were of utmost significance in the world.[42]

On October 20, 2022 Naghouni talked to Roqe Media’s Jian Ghomeshi. In a short video clip from the interview, Naghouni discusses the conceivable end of Iran’s Islamic state. Confirmations are mounting that the protesters may be undermining the government.

Naghouni explained that there have been many protests in Iran since the Iranian Revolution. Every time there’s a protest, there is talk that it could be the one that topples the Islamic regime. The death of Mahsa Amini was a cumulative breaking point. Naghouni was vehement and measured, in asserting that these latest protests would mark the beginning of the end for Iran's Islamic regime.[43] Full interview.[44]

With global protests increasing following the death of Mahsa Amini, leading Iranian artists Afshin Naghouni, Soheila Sokhanvari, Fari Bradley, Bijan Daneshmand, Maryam Eisler and Afsoon, gathered in London to give their support to the work of Human Rights Watch in Iran, as well as two additional charities currently working with the people of Iran.[45]

See also

References
  1. "About the Artist". Afshin Naghouni. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  2. "Writing by Paige Zeigler featuring artist Afshin Naghouni, musician Antix, & explorer Sam Cossman by Paige Zeigler – Issuu". issuu.com. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  3. '''Beyond The Ban collaboration the Center for Human Rights in Iran,'''Afshin Naghouni, contribution and bio, page 39 Beyond the Ban
  4. Picassomio (31 July 2001). "Afshin Naghouni Biography". Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  5. Zakzouk, Sara (27 May 2013). "EACE, LOVE, AND BAKLAVA – AN EXHIBITION OF CONTEMPORARY IRANIAN ARTISTS IN LONDON". Reorient. Archived from the original on 16 July 2013.
  6. Aghdashloo, Tara (3 May 2013). "Iranian Peacemakers". en.majalla.com. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  7. "صلح از صمیم قلب؛ چند قدم جلوتر". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 9 May 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  8. "iranian.com: Afshin Naghouni, paintings". iranian.com. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  9. Life, Kayhan (11 November 2018). "London-Based Star Artist Afshin Naghouni Finds Inspiration in the Female Form". KAYHAN LIFE. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  10. Life, Kayhan (26 July 2019). "Collected from LA to Azerbaijan, Artist Afshin Naghouni Discusses Nationalism, Nostalgia". KAYHAN LIFE. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  11. "صلح از صمیم قلب؛ چند قدم جلوتر". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 9 May 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  12. "Afshin Naghouni: Odyssey of an Artist | Global Studies". sgs.stanford.edu. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  13. "In the Studio – Afshin Naghouni: Jelly beans and nostalgia – BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2023. Quoted reference 18 minute 02 seconds.
  14. "Afshin Naghouni". www.nuitmagazine.com. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  15. "Afshin Naghouni: Odyssey of an Artist | Stanford Humanities Center". shc.stanford.edu. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  16. "Up to 150 men and women detained at a party in Iran". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  17. "BBC World Service – In the Studio, Afshin Naghouni: Jelly beans and nostalgia". BBC. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  18. "پارادوکس با کامبیز حسینی؛ گفت‌وگو با افشین ناغونی". www.radiofarda.com. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  19. "Out of Focus | Iranian Film Festival". iranianfilmfestival.org. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  20. Lovatt, Estelle (20 May 2021). "An Abstract Sense Of Life Solo Exhibition by Afshin Naghouni in HJ Art GallerY".
  21. Eisler, Maryam (16 November 2020). "Visual artist Afshin Naghouni: 'I'm sick and tired of self-obsessed art'". Lux Magazine. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  22. Walton, Millie (16 November 2020). "Visual artist Afshin Naghouni: 'I'm sick and tired of self-obsessed art'". Lux Magazine. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  23. "Confined Artists Free Spirits". Lux Magazine. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  24. "BBC World Service - Weekend, Beyond the Ban". BBC. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  25. "Sm la notizia xii 6 webs by SM La Notizia Londra - Issuu". issuu.com. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  26. "CONTEXT Art Miami 2016 - Art Fairs - Shirin Gallery". www.shiringallery.com. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  27. "Art for Youth London - 14th & 15th September 2016 | Strutt & Parker". www.struttandparker.com. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  28. "Jean Noble RI exhibits in 'Art for Youth London' – Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours". Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  29. "Dreaming of English Gardens in gallery curated by Alice Shirley for 2016 Art for Youth – Mall Galleries, London". kelise soixante-douze. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  30. "Afshin Naghouni: Satire". Meer. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  31. "Ash | Darz". darz.art. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  32. ""Objectification" naghouni - Google Search". www.google.com. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  33. Lovatt, Estelle (14 November 2013). "Discerning Eye Exhibition | The Mall Galleries". Estelle Lovatt. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  34. Mirshahi, Roxy. "Peace From the Bottom of My Art – The Glass Magazine". Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  35. Bloom, Ben (21 January 2011). "Westminster elderly and disabled suffer as social care is in slashed". Hampstead Highgate Express.
  36. "45 Iranian Artists Demand Release of Filmmakers: Is Ill-Treatment, Coercion, and Imprisonment the Only Way?". Center for Human Rights in Iran. 22 March 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  37. "Afshin Naghouni MutualArt". www.mutualart.com. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  38. "Art Of Iranian Immigrants Reveals The Creative Potential Of Inclusivity". HuffPost. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  39. ""Beyond the Ban: Contemporary Iranian Art" Exhibition". www.nyartbeat.com. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  40. "Iran protests, explained". Penn Today. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  41. Zitser, Joshua (14 September 2022). "Iran's 'trajectory' is another revolution — but the hijab protesters need leaders to topple the Islamic regime, Middle East experts say". Business Insider. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  42. Gol, Jiyar (1 October 2022). "BBC News Quote: Afshin Naghouni". Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  43. Roqe Moment – Acclaimed artist Afshin Naghouni... با زیرنویس فارسی, retrieved 18 December 2022
  44. Roqe Ep#207 – The Uprising: Over a Month and Growing, retrieved 13 November 2022
  45. LDN-POST Leading Iranian Artists Gather in London for Art in Iran Fundraiser,London Post, 14 December 2022, p. 1 City News – Lifestyle, (Links to Lnd Post Banned by WP)
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