Farhad Ahrarnia b. 1971
Farhad Ahrarnia is an Iranian-British artist, based in Shiraz and Sheffield. He adopts and draws knowledge from an extensive variety of craft making techniques relevant to his localities. Through a rigorous methodology of citing art historical references, particularly those of Saqqakhana (a movement from the 1960's where the then contemporary artists tapped into Iranian Popular Culture, traditional craft amd Persian artefacts), Russian Constructivism and Surrealism, he continues to dissect and re-articulate the spirit and experience of modernity and modernism in contexts other than exclusively Western. Thus entangling, twisting, complicating and interrupting the established art historical categories, narratives and dichotomies.
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The Grace of Unbecoming, Between Force and Meaning, a Moment, Caught, No. 2, 2015
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Miss Iraq No 4, 2008-9
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Desert Flowers, after Matisse No. 41, 2014
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A Dish Fit for the Gods, 2014-2015
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Liberte.Egalite.Fraternite, 2015
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Disappearance of Rumours, 2015
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Something for the Touts, the Nuns, the Grocery Clerks and You, No. 17, 2015
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Something for the Touts, the Nuns, the Grocery Clerks and You, No. 29, 2015
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The Dig no. 8, Nimrud Series, 2015-16
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Album leaf, [After Max Bill], 2016
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Something for the Touts, the Nuns, the Grocery Clerks and You, No. 45, 2016
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Longing for the Gardens of Cordoba, 2016
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He and No One Other, 2016
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The Kingfisher Flashing Across the Pool, 2016
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Luxury in Abnegation, 2016
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Tell the Truth But Tell iIt Slant, 2017
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Conversation Galante, 2018
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Memory of Sun, 2018
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The Dig, 2018
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Rhapsody in Blue, with a Hint of Morning-dew Yellow, 2018
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Tales of Two Cities, No.1, 2016
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Her Body, Her Nation, 2014-2015
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The Delirium of Becoming, a Moment Caught Between Myth and History, No. 2, 2015
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The Delirium of Becoming, a Moment Caught Between Myth and History, No. 3, 2015
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Stage on Fire 5, 2012
Farhad Ahrarnia was born in Shiraz in 1971. He holds a degree in Experimental and Documentary Film Theory and Practice from the Northern Media School, Sheffield Hallam University, UK.
Select solo shows include Twisting The Modern, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2019; Art in Another Language, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, 2019; Something for the Touts, the Nuns, the Grocery Clerks and You, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2017; Manouchehri Merchant House, Kashan, 2016; A Dish Fit for the Gods, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2015; Stage on Fire, Rose Issa Projects, London, 2014; Stitched, Leighton House Museum London, 2008; Stitched, Rose Issa Projects, London, 2008.
Ahrarnia has participated in several group shows including: Punk Orientalism, Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, 2019; MATERIALIZE, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2019; Artissima, Dialogue sector, with Lawrie Shabibi, Torino, Italy, 2018; Each Day an Artist, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2018; Scripted Reality, Lawrie Shabibi, London, 2018; Works on Paper, Editions and Multiples Spring 2018, Aaran Gallery, Tehran, 2018; Recentring Modernism, Insights Sector, Art Basel Hong Kong, with Lawrie Shabibi, 2016; Serpentiform, Palazzo Braschi, Museo di Roma, Rome, 2016; The Great Game, Iranian Pavilion, 56th Venice Biennale, 2015; What kind of Modern, Sheffield Fringe, 2014; The Beginning of Thinking is Geometric, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, 2013; Embroidermania, Hinterland Kunzt Art for Vienna Art Week, Vienna, 2013; Bringing the War Home, Winchester School of Art, 2013; Cometogether, Edge of Arabia, London, 2012; Migrasophia, Maraya art Centre, Sharjah, 2012; Quotations from Daily Life, 6th Tashkent Biennale of Contemporary Art, 2011; Zendegi: Twelve Contemporary Iranian Artists, Beirut Exhibition Center, 2011; Contemporary art: the territory of the artist and society, 6th Tashkent Biennale, Tashkent, 2011; Bringing the War Home, Impressions Gallery, Bradford, 2010-12; Balla Drama, Paradise Row Gallery, London, 2009; A Picture of Us, Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, 2009) and Sheffield Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, 2007.
His work is in several collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LACMA); Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; the British Museum, London; Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford; Harewood House, Leeds; The Mohammed Afkhami Collection, Dubai and the Huma Kabakci Collection, Istanbul, Turkey.
Ahrarnia lives and works between Shiraz and Sheffield.
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The Lacemaker
20 Jan - 4 Mar 2021 GalleryThe Lacemaker is the third solo exhibition of Farhad Ahrarnia (b. 1971) at the gallery. Comprising images drawn from a diverse range of sources and media – the internet, printed...Read more -
Materialize
Maliheh Afnan, Farhad Ahrarnia, Shaikha Al Mazrou, Asad Faulwell, Fathi Hassan, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Nadia Kaabi-Linke, Mona Saudi, Driss Ouadahi, Shahpour Pouyan 18 Mar - 7 Apr 2019 GalleryOpening 18 March in Warehouse 13 -a large space just across from its gallery within Alserkal Avenue- Lawrie Shabibi presents a major group exhibition to coincide with the 12th edition...Read more -
Scripted Reality
10 Hanover Street | London W1S 1YQ 26 Jun - 3 Jul 2018 GalleryLawrie Shabibi is excited to announce “Scripted Reality”, a group exhibition of six artists to be shown at 10 Hanover. This is Lawrie Shabibi’s first exhibition outside our gallery space...Read more -
Each Day An Artist
12 May - 1 Sep 2018 GalleryLawrie Shabibi is pleased to present “Each Day an Artist” from 12 May – [12 June], 2018. “Each Day an Artist” is an exhibition conceived for the holy month of...Read more -
Something for the Touts, the Nuns, the Grocery Clerks and You
Farhad Ahrarnia 8 Feb - 2 Mar 2017 GalleryAs in his previous pictorial series, Ahrarnia references such qualities of the Russian Avant-Garde who greatly influenced the art and architecture of mid 20th century Iran, a cultural extension of the 19th century “Great Game”. Ahrarnia’s interest in exploring the Khatam marquetry as a mark-making medium combines an aesthetic tradition and applies it to seminal 20th century Modernist works. Ahrarnia considers the Khatam a mathematically generated self-referential process, in line with 20th century Modernist notions. Applying traditional materials and craftsmanship he uses Modernist and Constructivist paintings as a blueprint from which to lay out his Khatam mosaics, emphasizing the engagement of the modern with the traditional, the decorative with the scientific, and embedding this entanglement of various cultural sensibilities into one radiant surface. He presents a selection of Khatam works based on the sparse compositions of Max Bill, El Lissitzky and Kazimir Malevich.Read more
Ahrarnia’s latest series entitled Something for the Touts, the Nuns, the Grocery Clerks and You begins outside of the atist's studio, in the markets of Shiraz, Esfahan, Mashhad and Tehran. As a performative act, the artist has been collecting discarded packaging cardboard boxes from local businesses over the last few years, to form and compose a visual and textual archive.
Ahrarnia reads these boxes through their logos and brands as well as their individual journeys. The sculptural physicality, constructed shapes and textual details of each box allude to the modern aesthetic values of Russian Constructivists and Suprematists, encapsulating the artist's continued interest in Modernity and the changing byproducts of Modernization in both global and regional contexts.
The variation of fonts and graphics sensibilities visible on their stem from early to mid-20th century modern advertising codes which were influenced by the Russian Avant-Garde and were applied universally. Yet the usage of fonts in both Farsi and English lend and create a unique set of variations of incongruous usage of signs, languages and aesthetics which in turn reflect the dynamics of a society and her cultures in a constant state of flux and becoming.
Ahrarnia takes these boxes apart and then works with a local artist to paint circular-shaped gilded illuminations, known as tazhib, around specific parts of the boxes. Tahzib was traditionally applied around historically important and highly valued religious and devotional texts as a . In these works, the application of Tazhib has been "mis-appropriated" and is adopted as a decorative and celebratory device to to raise the significance and cultural value of the found objects.
Since sanctions have been lifted after 36 years of embargo on Iran, the country’s historical position as a manufacturing plant, with much industry, has been brought to light. Through his cardboard series, the artist examines the advancing formation of rapid and aggressive consumption patterns across Iran and new possibilities of soft power through trade and commerce.
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UNSEEN
SUMMER GROUP EXHIBITION 25 May - 8 Sep 2016 GalleryFor the final exhibition of the season Lawrie Shabibi presents UNSEEN, a group show of recent works by artists from the gallery roster: Adel Abidin, Farhad Ahrarnia, Asad Faulwell, Driss...Read more -
A Dish Fit for the Gods
Farhad Ahrarnia 16 Nov 2015 - 13 Jan 2016 GalleryPrivate view: Sunday, 15 November 2015, 5 - 9 PM Lawrie Shabibi is proud to present A Dish Fit for the Gods by Farhad Ahrarnia, his first solo exhibition in...Read more
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Art Radar Interviews Farhad Ahrarnia About His Second Solo "Something for the Touts, the Nuns, the Grocery Clerks & You"
Claire Wilson, Art Radar Asia, February 22, 2017 -
Harper's Bazaar Art Arabia Features Farhad Ahrarnia: 'Dancing in Shiraz'
Lemma Shehadi, Harper's Bazaar Art Arabia, September 1, 2016 -
ARTSY Selects Lawrie Shabibi Among the 20 Best Booths at Art Basel Hong Kong, 2016
ALEXANDER FORBES AND FRANCES ARNOLD, ARTSY, March 22, 2016 -
"Reversing Orientalism" The Kurios Magazine Reviews Ahrarnia's Solo 'A Dish Fit for the Gods'
The Kurious , The Kurious , January 20, 2016 -
Selections Magazine Reviews Ahrarnia's 'A Dish Fit for the Gods'
Laura Egerton, Selections Magazine, January 1, 2016 -
Art Radar Reviews Ahrarnia's 'A Dish Fit for the Gods'
C. A. Xuan Mai Ardia, Art Radar, December 9, 2015 -
"Shiraz the Muse" - Canvas Profiles Farhad Ahrarnia
Haleh Anvari , Canvas, November 1, 2015