The Third Line, the Dubai-based gallery known for representing contemporary Middle Eastern artists locally, regionally, and internationally, recently hosted three solo exhibitions including one by Shabahang Tayyari.
An artist and writer from Iran, he mainly focuses on painting and how things are arranged in space. He likes to see how pictures fit on a surface and what they mean in different situations. His art is both strong and delicate, and it can show both good and bad sides of things.
One of his newest artworks, “Stop counting the waves following me, you seabirds!”, was recently exhibited at The Third Line. Tayyari explores themes of uniformity, replication and originality, throughout the overall installation and spatial arrangement of the works.
Below, we speak to the artist about his latest gallery showcase…
Can you tell us about ‘Stop counting the waves following me, you seabirds!’, at The Third Line?
I am into the boredom of the sea, nothingness, just stupid waves and stupid seabirds. Interesting part for me is the content I can insert into the surface and space. Into the waves. Finding and activating and inserting different levels of connotations and senses. How can I control the experience of the audience in space towards my intentions? The exhibition started with this question.
From conception to completion, can you tell us about the process of creating your piece? Was there anything you found challenging/surprising?
I had the Idea in 2009. It was just a little drawing of a sea wave and I just wrote a random number on top of it. A painter who counts the waves! Three years ago I started the series and this time I had more scenarios to add.
The surprising part was I didn’t get better at painting more of them. Actually it was the opposite. It was getting harder to not paint the same wave I painted before. That is the characteristic of the sea waves, there is not a regular pattern ever.
There’s a reference to Persian-Arabic calligraphy. Can you tell us about that?
At the time I started working on waves I was just finishing the series with Farsi alphabets. I just adopted the curves and outline of the waves from calligraphy. We don’t need to have a weaponized eye to see motion of the ocean in Persian-Arabic calligraphy. Also, I painted two words in Arabic language on top of a painting, “In the Name of The Holy” or “Great Force”, which are common words in the Middle-East among religious or semi-religious people before starting their daily job or first page of the homework at school. I was just thinking why not take advantage of this “great force” to paint better paintings!
Is there a certain way to look at your paintings? Start from the smallest wave, etc…
If the visitors start to look at the paintings from number one to sixteen it would be great. If not, they are gonna arrive at wave number one and start the second round.
The spatial arrangement of the space is the manual for the exhibition. The waves are all around you so you can not escape. It is an artificial domestic island with black mouquet shore.
In what creative ways does your heritage play a part in your art?
The heritage shows you that you don’t need to define your practice in certain western categories which are defined by white people. You can dig your hole and let them build their own walls. Maybe the matter of unification and stylization in this exhibition is a response to those categories. Probably it is.
Can you tell us about the role art plays in the Middle East?
Art connects people and provides a space to practice freedom. That’s the reason all the totalitarian regimes do not tolerate art. They don’t like this connection in society and the practice of freedom. One way or another this practice is going to come back at them. This is the beauty, this is the role art plays in the world and especially in the Middle East.
From GQ Magazine website