< Previous100 HarpersBazaarArabia.com/Culture Winter 2020 In CONVERSATION “ A M O M E N T W I L L CO M E I N Y O U R L I F E W H E N T H E S U N S H I N E S F O R Y O U A T D A W N SO Y O U C A N E M B R A C E A N E W R E A L I T Y” Crippled with fear after enduring a struggle no man should, a new sense of purpose blossomed within the artist. “The energy cultivated from my being started bringing me strength and confi dence. I was deprived of water and food for a long time so feeling that was extraordinary,” he recalls. “I could feel the energy move through my body. I found balance and peace internally, which effected my external world.” Desperately seeking solace during his darkest hour, Sassan pictured himself as a child running through the magical fi elds in the mountains North of Tehran. “That gave me a sense of peace and belonging, to something greater at play.” Depicting the human transformation that is realised in a space between the conscious and unconscious mind, the works featured in the Flowers of the Soul series propel the psyche to unearth the knowledge, intuition and human sensitivity buried underneath the distractions of the physical realm. “For me, these shapes and fl owers are symbols from a place deep in the human soul,” expresses Sassan. “Symbols trying to manifest things hidden deep in our beings. Things that can change the very essence of our humanity. Things that belong to a realm of energy. Belong to us Immersed in an intangible world of awe when he paints, for Paris-born contemporary artist Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar, knitting a new reality through spiritual affi rmation is rooted within his expressionist style. Swaying between abstract and fi gurative structure, each painting draws one into a condition of utter inner awareness, holding them fi rmly in a state of blissful stillness, if only just for a while. “A moment will come in your life when the sun shines for you at dawn so you can embrace a new reality,” says Sassan. “It is a matter of awareness, fact and life. To awaken to the eternal life you possess, to take advantage of your human opportunity and control your evolutionary destiny.” The richly layered and textured composition invites the onlooker to surrender to an unseen, dreamlike realm, one which brims with wonder and mystery; beautifully imperfect in its messily aesthetic lines and melange of dark and light. Entitled Flowers of the Soul, the French-Iranian artist’s new body of work comprises vivacious, raw brushstrokes on canvas portraying fl owers; symbols of longevity and hope which were engrained in him since childhood. Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar. A detail of In the Name of Life GRBY. Facing page: A detail of Breath, Breathing, Human, Being HBI_048_98-103_Conversation_Sassan_11445716.indd 10029/11/2020 06:30:19 PMHBI_048_98-103_Conversation_Sassan_11445716.indd 10129/11/2020 06:30:26 PM102 HarpersBazaarArabia.com/Culture Winter 2020 In CONVERSATION HBI_048_98-103_Conversation_Sassan_11445716.indd 10229/11/2020 06:30:35 PM103 HarpersBazaarArabia.com/Culture Winter 2020 In CONVERSATION and are within us.” Supported by Setareh, Flowers of the Soul will be unveiled at London’s Saatchi Gallery in 2021. Another new series of work entitled In the Name of Life (2020), which focuses on mindfulness and the psyche, will be showcased online during a solo show at Setareh in December. As a prominent gallery in Europe with three major spaces in Düsseldorf, Setareh represents several contemporary Iranian artists including Sassan. “Unfortunately, Iranian contemporary art is very regulated and constricted in its own country, yet at the same time, there is a new generation of extremely gifted artists who are yearning to present their work to the global art community,” says Samandar Setareh, owner of Setareh gallery. “Until this day, for many of them this means leaving their country to start an international dialogue. We represent wonderful artists from different generations who were able to take this riskful step. All of them are inspired by their cultural background, but have created a language which reaches an international canon. Setareh has the pleasure to enjoy a very international collector base. Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar at the same time speaks a language of abstraction and sometimes fi gurative-infl uenced colour painting, which easily overcomes any boundaries of cultural meditations. In that sense, international projects with Behnam-Bakhtiar develop naturally and we look forward to exhibitions in London and Paris in 2021.” Rather than fi xating on an artist’s geographical heritage, the gallery’s vision extends beyond material boundaries. “This is the beautiful reality of our world; Human expression is always on the move,” says Samandar. “Behnam-Bakhtiar’s paintings are composed of frequencies of colours in which he virtuously composes his abstract fears. They are bases of any visual realisation of existence in each of us and there is just a little chance of not feeling an immediate reaction while standing in front of his work. Meeting Sassan was like meeting an old friend or relative, as we immediately trusted each other and were able to establish a bond based on our cultural life experiences. Assuming the possibility of holding art fairs in the fi rst half of 2021, we look forward to showing up in Monte Carlo with a selection from our gallery program, including major works by Sassan, Gregor Gleiwitz and others in combination with post-modern masters like Hans Hartung and Jean-Michel Atlan.” Alongside two major solo shows set to take place in London and Paris in 2021, Sassan will be part of several new initiatives in the year ahead. In June, a new book extensively surveying the Flowers of the Soul series will be published, written by art critic and curator of Modern Forms, Nick Hackworth, who says: “When I look at Sassan Behnam- Bakhtiar’s works, each one becomes, in my mind’s eye, a world of its own. They’re like mosaics with their patterns of irregular squares and rectangles and intersecting, scrape-lines. Each one is an intense fi eld of myriad contrasts and harmonies, of colour and texture, fl owing and clashing into each other. They are full of drama and beauty.” In September 2020 the artist inaugurated the new cultural centre of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in the South of France with Rebirth, an exhibition held under the patronage of the Mayor of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Jean- François Dieterich. The paintings on view, comprising his signature style of scraped painting, noted inspiration from the raw connection between the universe and humanity. As Samandar penned, “Through his intercultural Franco-Iranian background, Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar holds a lot of ancient, cultural knowledge, simultaneously he is very much ahead as a contemporary visionary. His work teaches lessons of energy and frequency which is an immediate soul-connector. I feel there is a deep yearning for unity, compelling his productivity as an artist.” Today Sassan’s work is housed within some of the largest contemporary private art collections in the world and is adorned on the walls of several collectors’ homes, with whom he has established an unbreakable bond with over the years. Collector Andrea Morante is one such example, who owns around 30 of the artist’s works. “Sassan’s paintings have only one drawback,” admits Andrea. “They are the only objects of art for which my partner Caroline and I regularly fi ght for - who saw it fi rst and where is it going to be exposed - London, Milano, Rougemont? The layers of the colours say it all.” Andrey and Natalia Klinovskiy, also admirers and collectors of the works, formed an intimate bond at fi rst glance. “When we saw the work during Sassan’s latest exhibition, it was love at fi rst sight,” they share. “It is always a warm, sunny emotion that you get from his work, even on a sad rainy day.” Flowing as do musical patterns, the beautiful clash of pixel-like shapes, colours and layers is reminiscent of a psychological state of undisrupted peace. The alluring paintings wrestle between love and darkness, as he wrestled between life and death. As a rising star who has successfully joined the French-Iranian art fi rmament, there’s no doubt Sassan’s future is brimming with possibility. ‘In the Name of Life’ will be shown at Setareh in December 2020 and ‘Flowers of the Soul’ will be shown at Saatchi Gallery in London, 2021. setareh-gallery.com W ORD S B Y A YESHA S. SHEHMIR, IMA GES C OUR TES Y OF THE AR TIS T AND SET AREH In CONVERSATION Facing page: Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar. In the Name of Life; Right: A detail of Breath, Breathing, Human, Being; Below: Bridge of Life HBI_048_98-103_Conversation_Sassan_11445716.indd 10329/11/2020 06:30:44 PM104 HarpersBazaarArabia.com/Culture Winter 2020 Emirati artist and curator Sumayyah Al Suwaidi is reviving forgotten tales through a group exhibition based on a 1950s folklore, recreated by formative artists and short fi lms, writes Odelia Mathews of our Tales Times The CURATOR HBI_048_104-107_Curator_Sumayya Alsuweidi_11444689.indd 10429/11/2020 04:17:12 PMSalma Elbanna. Erased. 2020. Acrylic on canvas. 250x150cm HBI_048_104-107_Curator_Sumayya Alsuweidi_11444689.indd 10529/11/2020 04:17:22 PMThe CURATOR 106 HarpersBazaarArabia.com/Culture Winter 2020 Facing page: Charlie Rana Villagracia. Grief of Ego. 2020. Acrylic on canvas. 250x150cm artists to recreate the character of Maheerah based on their own interpretations. “This exhibition is a platform to highlight community artists and introduce them to the world,” says Sumayyah. The exhibition, which will feature a series of commissioned short fi lms, all created during the COVID-19 lockdown, captures the main muse in several stunning visuals including oil, water and acrylic portraits on a canvas of 1.5x2.5 metres. As an artist, designer and curator, Sumayyah is no stranger to the art scene in the UAE having curated her fi rst solo exhibition in 2007 at the Ghaf Art Gallery in Abu Dhabi and then exhibiting and curating shows in the UAE, Morocco and Kuwait and as far as UK, France, China and Germany. For her, this exhibition is a way to connect the art community to the culture and heritage of the UAE, as well as established, prominent and upcoming artists who drive the dialogue forward through their creative synergies and artistic appeal. The Maheerah exhibition will run until 22 February 2021 at the Cultural Foundation, Al Hosn, Abu Dhabi. culturalfoundation.ae tThe UAE has long been a place of ancient desert tales passed down from generations through the elders and mostly shared between tribes of the seven Emirates. Exchanged over sand dunes and bonfi res in the desert, some of these tales have survived the passing of time, while others have been forgotten as new generations lost touch with desert folklore. One such story is that of Maheerah, a character inspired by a true story and told by Emirati artist, Abdulrahim Salim’s grandmother. Set in the 1950s in the Emirate of Sharjah, it follows the tale of a beautiful girl who was once proposed by a man for marriage whom she rejected. As an act of revenge, the man cast a spell on Maheerah, robbing her of her beauty and making her an outcast in the community. For the young Salim, this tale left a lasting impression on his mind and soon he began to paint visions of Maheerah’s character in the 1990s, establishing his prominence in the emerging native art scene of the Emirates. In a bid to revive the magical lure of such ancient tales, Abu Dhabi-based award-winning artist, entrepreneur, curator and fashion designer Sumayyah Al Suwaidi has curated a special exhibition featuring ten multimedia and 25 fi gurative Above, clockwise from left: Maitha Al Muhairy. M. 2020. Oil on canvas. 250x150cm; Lamya Al Shamsi. Erased. 2020. Acrylic on canvas. 250x150cm; Randa Haddadin. Now I Am Free. 2020. Mixed media. 250x150cm HBI_048_104-107_Curator_Sumayya Alsuweidi_11444689.indd 10629/11/2020 04:17:46 PMThe ARTIST 107 HarpersBazaarArabia.com/Culture Winter 2020 IMA GES C OUR TES Y OF THE AR TIS T S HBI_048_104-107_Curator_Sumayya Alsuweidi_11444689.indd 10729/11/2020 04:18:00 PM108 HarpersBazaarArabia.com/Culture Winter 2020 The ARTIST HBI_048_108-111_Artist_Sunny Kim_11443534.indd 10829/11/2020 04:13:45 PM The LATEST xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxx 109 HarpersBazaarArabia.com/Culture Winter 2020 Revealing childhood memories, Korean-American artist Sunny Kim talks to Odelia Mathews about creating art that teases the mind and arouses suspense, vagueness and wonder all at once MI X E D EM O T I O N S Facing page: Sunny Kim. Passage. 2016. Acrylic on canvas. 112x138cm; Rocks and Clouds. 2005. Acrylic on canvas. 180x140cm HBI_048_108-111_Artist_Sunny Kim_11443534.indd 10929/11/2020 04:13:53 PMNext >