Marcos Grigorian

Private Collection, New York
Private Collection, Connecticut (acquired directly from the above in 2012)

Luxembourg, Galerie F. Hessler, Marcos Grigorian: Selected Art Works, 2012

Marcos Grigorian was a key figure in the development and establishment of Iranian modern art, internationally acclaimed due to his forward thinking and contemporary aesthetic. He is most celebrated for his iconic works comprising the minimalistic yet highly symbolic Earthwork series. This group of works was executed in 1963 when the artist first moved to New York.  Influences for this series are a combination of Grigorian’s obsession with his past and a personal sense of displacement, alongside sentiments of homesickness for his native soil.

These works, mostly executed in square format, allude to forms of sacred geometry and esoteric symbolism referencing harmonious proportions essential for unity of the universe. Symbolic of the earth, the simple and familiar figure of a rectangular shape became a compositional signature for Grigorian. The organic materials employed in their creation, such as; hay, sand, soil and clay built onto the canvas surface, result in a texturally rich three-dimensional quality. Via both medium and form, the artist conveys notions of heavenly spirits and earthly matter. From the parched foreground emerges renewed life, the soil and golden tonalities alluding to rebirth and the sun. The vital unification of death and rebirth; spirit and tangible matter, are integral components to the notion of conception.

In Untitled, we can observe Grigorian experimenting with the natural elements. He visually examines the complex relationship between mankind and earth, manually rebuilding snippets of the rebirth of the cosmos. The monochromatic earthy surface characteristic to this series impresses the sensation of a remote aerial view, almost from space. It refers to an early phase in the creation of society to come, arresting the viewer with a visual epiphany of contemporary spiritual truths. The textured surface and manipulation of light and shadow bestow the canvas with further dramatic effect, creating the illusion of character, movement and depth to a seemingly flat surface.

Challenging tradition, Grigorian employs Persian desert dust; smearing it across his surface plane, to create a dehydrated cracked surface texture begging to be touched. His avant-garde experimentations with broad ranging materials and mediums are particularly innovative due to their experimentally formal reductive aesthetic, producing uniquely engaging textural effects. The minimal nature of his palette and abjectness of materials, coupled with three-dimensional assemblage gift his works with an emotively raw and honestly provocative narrative.

Years ahead of his time, his experimentation with his natural surroundings predates contemporary pieces produced by modern American, European, and Japanese artists. Grigorian’s preferred style paid reference to indigenous dwellings, contextualising the parched earth, sparse surroundings and basic forms to represent a higher meaning via a personalised visual vocabulary. Grigorian is recognised amongst scholars and art collectors for his modern expressionism, characterised by his innovative employment of reduction; defying the opulence and imitation of Old Masters. Despite this, he did not desire to be classified as an Eastern artist, abhorring classifications and limitations. He borrowed from cultural traditions and recognised symbolism, redefining preconceived concepts via his search for new  possibilities.

Grigorian’s focus on self-effacement, his obsession with modesty of primal materiality, his incorporation of ethnic textures, and naturally accidental elements within his planned executions, led to the discovery of a multitude of material aesthetics for future works. Decontextualizing and modernising ancient to create contemporary yet emotively nostalgic works, Grigorian offers a local narrative. Via his works he successfully erases segregation between art and craft, encompassing both; a pivotal characteristic of artworks produced in the early twenty-first century.