Farrokh Shayesteh retrospective
Contemporary museums at the confluence of past, present
By Saeideh Ehsani Rad
Staff writer
The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art has put on display the works of Farrokh Shayesteh, a 70-year-old Iranian artist with a career spanning nearly six decades. The exhibition, titled ‘Hamsafar-e Aftab’ (Companion of the Sun), is curated by Reza Dabiri-Nejad and features over 200 works from three periods of Shayesteh’s career in Iran and abroad.
Reza Dabiri-Nejad, the curator of the exhibition, explained to Iran Persian-language newspaper that the show is a retrospective of Shayesteh’s life’s work, which began when he was just seven years old, learning the art of painting from his father, Sadr-al-Din Shayesteh Shirazi.
Sadr-al-Din was a renowned artist and student of the Shiraz school of art, and had learned from masters such as Farrokh’s great-grandfather, Lotfali Shirazi, and his great-great-grandfather, Aqa Sadeq. Sadr-al-Din had also learned tazhib (the art of illumination) from Muhammad Taghi Mazhab Bashi.
Sadr-al-Din was encouraged by Farrokh’s great-grandfather, Farrokh’s great-great-grandfather, and Kamal-al-Molk to pursue his artistic career in Tehran. He studied painting and sculpture at the Tehran School of Fine Arts for eight years and also achieved the degree of Ijtihad from the Sepahsalar School.
With this series of masters and apprentices, Sadr-al-Din became the last heir to the “Shiraz School” in his time through this series of masters and disciples.
Farrokh Shayesteh’s early works were influenced by the Shiraz school of art, and he learned the traditional techniques of Persian painting from his father. However, as he grew older, he began to explore other styles and techniques. He was fascinated by the Impressionist movement and the works of artists such as Monet and Vermeer. He also came across a collection of Impressionist works in his father’s library, which sparked his interest in Western art.
In the 1950s, Farrokh became interested in modern Iranian art, particularly the installation works of Mohsen Vaziri Moghaddam. He traveled to India in 1976 and then to Europe, where he studied painting in France. However, he did not find the French art scene to his liking and returned to Tehran.
Upon his return, Farrokh became interested in pop art, abstract expressionism, and minimalism, which were the dominant art movements in the United States at the time. He experimented with these styles, but eventually returned to traditional Iranian art forms, particularly miniature painting. This decision was initially met with skepticism by his friends and teachers, but eventually gained recognition and acclaim.
In addition to painting, Farrokh also learned printmaking and photography, and later became interested in digital art. He even taught comparative arts and visual communication at universities in Kyoto and Okinawa, Japan.
Dabiri-Nejad considered this exhibition to be a narrative of the artist’s quest to connect the artistic heritage of his fathers with what he found in the East and West, and in the midst of all these travels, he remained Iranian, and now his narrative of being Iranian and contemporary is on display in his homeland. Farrokh Shayesteh’s exhibition is an effort to show how a museum narrative can be placed in a museum during an artist’s lifetime and to identify and introduce contemporary heritage.
The show features 17 collections of his work, including paintings, prints, and digital art.
Dabiri-Nejad noted that museums are institutions that preserve and showcase cultural heritage, and that the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art is committed to promoting contemporary Iranian art. The museum’s goal is to create a narrative of Iranian arts and culture, and to identify and introduce contemporary artists who are making significant contributions to the field.
Museums, according to Dabiri-Nejad, are institutions that stand on the border between past and present, and they continuously transform the present into history. They are responsible for adding to the collection of cultural heritage and providing a sense of identity for the community.
The exhibition ‘Hamsafar-e Aftab’ is a significant milestone in the museum’s efforts to promote contemporary Iranian arts, and it provides a unique opportunity for audiences to experience the artistic journey of Farrokh Shayesteh.