art is beautiful

I was led to the awesome work of Farhad Moshiri by a design blog because of one of his AMAZING knife installations. Of course I love it - a huge text piece, made of subversive materials, and stating a almost sacrine but truthful statement.

embroidery on canvas.

Farhad is an Iranian artist working in a very contemporary vain often incorporating knives, embroidery , beads, and sparkles. His work is often a commentary on commodity, opulence, and desire.


In an interview he says this about his work:

"There’s always been an element in my work that’s self-ridiculing—I play with the idea of marketing and commodification, and this feeds my practice. After all, the idea of making work that is about the packaging of art has been there since pop art."


and on censorship issues...

"My work now is not that obviously critical. I’m using the idea of “happiness”—which gives more space for corniness or sarcasm, but sorrow is just sorrow and there’s not a lot you can do with it. If an artist attacks an issue clearly in Iran, there can be a problem. As an artist you do a bit of self-editing—every society has its taboos. An image will have one meaning in Tehran and an entirely opposite meaning in Denmark, for example. But sometimes I’ll just decide not to show a work in Tehran since I’m pretty sure how it would be interpreted and I’m not willing to change it—such as We are all Americans. But then suddenly a curator from Yerevan brought it back to Tehran University [where it was shown in 2007 as part of an uncensored group show] and, surprisingly, all went well. "


I always love overly pretty, decorative work with a bit too much sweet. He delivers this every time.


I am a little brained out for my own work so I do not have any intellectual insights today. But I love this artists work. It is often super smart and always very well crafted. I mean check out the flying carpet. AWESOME. So sarcastically wonderful.



See more of his work here. He has a wide breathe of work.