Hossein Valamanesh

Rose Issa Projects, London

Mary Knights and Ian North, Hossein Valamanesh - Out of nothingness, Kent Town 2011, p. 143 (another version illustrated) 

 “Sufi poetry talks about the notion of how everything is in motion, every atom turns bewildered, every star is going around, the earth moves and in that sense the idea of change and time passing is very much a part of that concept…this is the way we are connected together…there are elements of my body which are whirling around themselves, as you are…and the sun is going round, and the whole universe, in that sense it gives you some comfort that you are not alone in this madness.”

The artist cited in: Mary Knights and Ian North, Hossein Valamanesh Out of Nothingness, Kent Town 2011, p. 87.

The underlying concept influencing Hossein Valamanesh’s works derives from the interaction and relationship between humans and the natural world, whereby a sense of place is developed and informed by personal memory and collective cultural history. Valamanesh draws on Iranian culture, in particular on classical Persian poetry and Sufi poetic traditions. A versatile artist, his works range from multi-media installations to sculpture, video, photography, painting and drawing.  Language and text are frequently integrated into his compositions, contributing layers of complexity. Usually employed in Farsi script, although legible to many, its use also reveals the impenetrable nature of language and the integral points of communication lost in the process of translation.

Valamanesh creates emotively charged bronze calligraphic sculptures by arranging branches from his garden to communicate various sentiments and reflections. Iconic fragments of Persian proverbs crafted from twigs are discreetly embedded into the seemingly unconstrained texts. In his Breath series, branches present well-known phrases by Sufi poets such as, Don't say anything or as in the present work; This too shall pass. The letters cast in bronze delicately skim across the surface as if a lost memory or a faint murmur. Created from twisted crown of thorn bramble, which the artist himself has collected, the prickly sapling carries religious connotations of crucifixion and torture, amplifying the antagonistic and spiky intensity of the words. In doing so, he visually and literally unifies nature with culture, whilst also commemorating and paying homage to the words of these profoundly mystical poets, whose central concepts on the ephemerality of existence are essential to his oeuvre of work.