History of art(west and Iranian)-contemporary art

1. František Kupka
Seo, Young-Deok
Guy Laramée
Dia Azzawi
AZIZ ART October 2018

2. Director: Aziz Anzabi
Editor : Nafiseh Yaghoubi
Translator : Asra Yaghoubi
Research: Zohreh Nazari
1-František Kupka
6-Guy Laramée
10-Felice Varini
13-Seo, Young-Deok
15-Dia Azzawi
http://www.aziz_anzabi.com

3. František Kupka 23 September
1871 – 24 June 1957 also known
as Frank Kupka or François
Kupka,was a Czech painter and
graphic artist. He was a pioneer
and co-founder
of the early phases of the abstract
art movement and Orphic Cubism
(Orphism).Kupka's abstract works
arose from a base of realism, but
later evolved into pure abstract art.
Biography
Education
František Kupka was born in
Opočno (eastern Bohemia) in
Austria-Hungary in 1871. From
1889 to 1892, he studied at the
Academy of Fine Arts in Prague.
At this time, he painted historical
and patriotic themes. Kupka
enrolled at the Academy of Fine
Arts in Vienna, where he
concentrated on symbolic and
allegorical subjects. He was
influenced by the painter and
social reformer Karl Wilhelm
Diefenbach (1851–1913) and his
naturistic life-style. Kupka
exhibited at the Kunstverein,
Vienna, in 1894. His involvement
with theosophy and Eastern
philosophy dates from this period.
By spring 1894, Kupka had settled
in Paris; there he attended the
Académie Julian briefly and then
studied with Jean-Pierre Laurens at
the École des Beaux-Arts.
World War I
Kupka served as a volunteer in the
First World War, and is mentioned
in La Main coupée by Blaise
Cendrars. Cendrars describes him
as a "proud soldier, calm, placid,
strong"... but really too old to be a
soldier, being at least 25 years older
than the rest. When the regiment
set out from Paris for the front in
Picardy (they marched all the way
on foot) Mme Kupka met the
column as they arrived at the La
Défense roundabout, near where
they lived. She marched with them,
carrying her husband's bag and his
rifle. She would have marched all
the way to the front, but at the end
of the first day the colonel had her
arrested and sent back to Paris. She
later made her way to the front
lines to spend time with her
husband. Kupka himself left the
front due to frostbite in the foot,
caused by nights in the trenches
waist-deep in freezing water. 1

5. Career
Kupka worked as an illustrator of
books and posters and, during his
early years in Paris, became known
for his satirical drawings for
newspapers and magazines. In
1906, he settled in Puteaux, a
suburb of Paris, and that same year
exhibited for the first time at the
Salon d'Automne. Kupka was
deeply impressed by the first
Futurist Manifesto, published in
1909 in Le Figaro. Kupka's 1909
painting Piano Keyboard/Lake
marked a break in his
representational style. His work
became increasingly abstract
around 1910–11, reflecting his
theories of motion, color, and the
relationship between music and
painting (orphism). In 1911, he
attended meetings of the Puteaux
Group (Section d'Or). In 1912, he
exhibited his Amorpha. Fugue à
deux couleurs, at the Salon des
Indépendants in the Cubist room,
although he did not wish to be
identified with any movement.
Creation in the Plastic Arts, a book
Kupka completed in 1913, was
published in Prague in 1923.
In 1931, he was a founding
member of Abstraction-Création.
In 1936, his work was included in
the exhibition Cubism and Abstract
Art at the Museum of Modern Art
in New York City, and in an
important show with another Czech
painter, Alphonse Mucha, at the
Jeu de Paume in Paris. A
retrospective of his work took place
at the Galerie Mánes in Prague in
1946. The same year, Kupka
participated in the Salon des
Réalités Nouvelles, where he
continued to exhibit regularly until
his death. During the early 1950s,
he gained general recognition and
had several solo shows in New York.
Between 1919 and 1938 Kupka was
financially supported by his good
friend, art collector and industrialist
Jindřich Waldes who accumulated a
substantial collection of his art.
Kupka died in 1957 in Puteaux,
France.
Work
Kupka had a strong interest in color
theory and freeing colors from
descriptive associations (which is
thought to have possibly influenced
other artists like Robert Delaunay)

6. Margit Rowell described his
painting The Yellow Scale
(c. 1907) as "Kupka's first
attempt to come to terms with
color theory in which the result is
both personal and
successful".Although a
self-portrait, the subject of the
painting was the color yellow.
Around 1910 he began developing
his own color wheels, adapting a
format previously explored by Sir
Isaac Newton and Hermann von
Helmholtz. This work in turn led
Kupka to execute a series of
paintings he called "Discs of
Newton"
(1911–12).
Planes by Colors
The Colored One
Reminiscence of a Cathedral
Blue Space
Works in Peggy Guggenheim
Collection, Venice, Italy:
Study for Woman Picking Flowers
(Femme cueillant des fleurs), ca
1910
Study for Amorpha, Warm
Chromatics, Chromatique chaude
and for Fugue in Two Colors (Fugue
a deux couleurs), ca 1911-1912
Vertical Planes (Plans verticaux),
1911–1912
Study for Organization of Graphic
Motifs I (Localisations de mobiles
graphiques I), ca 1911-12
Around a point (Autour d'un point),
ca 1920-1925
Other works include The Cathedral
(Katedrála).

8. Guy Laramée
BIBLIOGRAPHY
In the course of his 30 years of
practice, interdisciplinary artist
Guy Laramée has created in such
varied and numerous disciplines as
theater writing and directing,
contemporary music composition,
musical instrument design and
building, singing, video,
scenography, sculpture,
installation, painting,
and literature. He has received
more than 30 arts grants and was
awarded the Canada Council’s
Joseph S. Stauffer award for
musical composition. His work has
been presented in United States,
Belgium, France, Germany,
Switzerland, Japan, and Latin
America.
From 1984 to 1988 he composed
music for contemporary dance:
Daniel Soulière and Danse Cité,
Carol Ip, Suzanne Lavoie, Andrew
Harwood). After 1988 he composed
and designed sound scenography
for theater: (Larry Tremblay, 1987-
88; Robert Lepage, 1992-93; Jean-
Frédérique Messier, 1993-95;
Volker Hesse, Switzerland, 1993);
Lou Simard, Germany, 1994; Claire
Gignac and La Nef, 1995-2004;
Rachel Rosenthal, USA, 1999-2000.
His research in non-tempered
tunings and multiple layer
polyrhythms led him to found TUYO
in 1987, an ensemble performing
microtonal and gestural music on
invented instruments. He directed
this ensemble until 1991.
Since 1986, he has authored
several interdisciplinary works: Les
Éléphants sont venus mourir ici,
1986; Théorie du Désert 1991;
Marche de Nuit 1994-96, BIBLIOS
2005-6 and co-authored several
multidisciplinary works (URNOS,
2004 ; Ici et là, 2004). He has
written the scripts and directed the
following short films: Marche de
Nuit, with Henri-Louis Chalem,
1996; CrystalKey Bee, 1997). He
was the artistic director of
PluraMuses, a company devoted to
producing multi-disciplinary works
and was also involved in the
Meduse cooperative in Quebec
City. He initiated and coordinated «
L’espace traversé », a pan-Canadian
conference on interdisciplinary art
practices (See the bilingual book
published by Le Sabord: L’Espace
traversé). 6

10. Parallel to his artistic practice, he
has pursued investigation in the
field of anthropology. His fieldwork
includes ethno-musicography of
the Fetish ritual in Togo (1986),
oracular imagination among
healers in the Peruvian Amazon
(1993-95), and concepts of
creativity and imagination among
contemporary artists (M.A. thesis,
2002). Ethnographic imagination is
an important characteristic in his
artistic work.
Although his work has been
presented in museums and
galleries (Marche de Nuit hosted by
the Montreal Contemporary Art
Museum, 94; « Quelle belle
journée pour mourir ! », Méduse
1997), its appearance in the
context of gallery exhibition is
relatively new (2004). Nevertheless,
at the end of 2011 his work will
have been included in 15 solo and
more than 20 collective shows. Half
of these have been in international
exhibits.

12. Felice Varini born in Locarno in
1952 is a Paris-based, Swiss artist
who was nominated for the
2000/2001 Marcel Duchamp Prize.
Mostly known for his geometric
perspective-localized paintings in
rooms and other spaces, using
projector-stencil techniques,
according to mathematics
professor and art critic
Joël Koskas,
"A work of Varini is an anti-Mona
Lisa." Felice paints on
architectural and urban spaces,
such as buildings, walls and streets.
The paintings are characterized by
one vantage point from which the
viewer can see the complete
painting (usually a simple
geometric shape such as circle,
square, line), while from other view
points the viewer will see ‘broken’
fragmented shapes. Varini argues
that the work exists as a whole -
with its complete shape as well as
the fragments. “My concern,” he
says “is what happens outside the
vantage point of view.”
Carcassonne
Felice Varini, project "Concentric,
eccentric" with concentric yellow
circles, at Carcassonne for the 7th
"IN SITU, Heritage and
contemporary art" event in May
2018 to celebrate the 20th
anniversary of the inscription on
the World Heritage List of UNESCO
In May 2018, Varini's project
"Concentric, eccentric" saw large
yellow concentric circles mounted
on the monument at Carcassonne
as part of the 7th edition of "IN
SITU, Heritage and contemporary
art", a summer event in the
Occitanie / Pyrenees-
Mediterranean region focusing on
the relationship between modern
art and architectural heritage. This
monumental work is to celebrate
the 20th anniversary of
Carcassonne's inscription on the
World Heritage List of UNESCO.
Exceptional in its size and its
visibility and use of architectural
space, the exhibit extends on the
western front of the fortifications
of the City. The work can only be
fully perceived in front of the Porte
d'Aude at the pedestrian route
from the Bastide.
10

13. The circles of yellow colour consist of thin, painted aluminium sheets,
spread like waves of time and space, fragmenting and recomposing the
geometry of the circles on the towers and curtain walls of the
fortifications. The work will be visible from May to

15. Seo, Young-Deok born1983, Korea
Academic Career
2009 Graduated from the department of Environmental Sculpture,
University of Seoul
2011 Entered the department of Environmental Sculpture, the
Graduate School of the University of Seoul
Awards
2008 Received the Grand Prize, “The 9th National Undergraduate and
Graduate Students Sculpture Competition”
Solo Exhibition
2018 ‘Human Connection’, Opera galley, London
2018 ‘Meditation’, Liquid art system, Italy
2017 ‘Meditation’, SeongNam art center, Cube Museum, SeongNam,
Korea
2016 ‘The Gray Man’, Opera Gallery, Paris, France
2015 ‘Mordern Life’, White Room Gallery, Capri, Italy
2014 ‘Link’, Gallery SODA Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
2012 ‘Modern Times Infection’, Gallery SODA Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
2011 ‘Dystopia’, Insa Art Center, Seoul, Korea
2009 ‘Modern Times’, Gallery of University of Seoul, Seoul, Korea
13

17. Dia Azzawi
born 1939 is an Iraqi born patiner
and sculptor, now living and
working in London and one of the
pioneers of modern Arab art. He is
noted for incorporating Arabic
script into his paintings. Active in
the arts community, he founded
the Iraqi art group known as New
Vision and has been an inspiration
to a generation of young,
calligraffiti artists.
Life and career
Dia Azzawi was born in al-Fadhil,
the oldest traditional
neighbourhood of Baghdad, in
1939.His father was a grocer in the
city centre and Dia was the third of
ten children in the family.
Azzawi studied archaeology at the
College of Arts in Baghdad,
graduating in 1962 and later
studied at the Institute of
Fine Arts, under the guidance of
the eminent Iraqi artist, Hafidh al-
Droubi, and graduating in 1964. By
day, he studied the ancient world,
and by night he studied he studied
European painting. Azzawi
#explains, "This contrast meant
that I was working with European
principles but at the same time
using my heritage as part of my
work." His exposure to archaeology
would influence him greatly as an
artist, and he drew inspiration from
the ancient myths of Gilgamesh
and Imam Hussein, a Muslim hero.
Azzawi then continued to study art
at the Institute of Fine Art,
graduating in 1964.
In the 1950s, he began working
with Iraqi artist, Faeq Hassan, who
was involved with an arts group
called the Pioneers. This group
aimed to locate a continuity
between traditional and
contemporary Iraqi art. During this
period, he began to develop his
own aesthetic, and was inspired by
dramatic moments in Iraq's history.
While enrolled at art school, he
joined the local art group, known as
the Impressionists, founded by his
professor, Hafidh al-Droubi in 1953.
While Azzawi was not particularly
drawn to impressionism as a style,
the group encouraged artists to
experiment with different styles,
and also to pursue local themes as
subject matter.
15

18. Through his involvement in this
group, he began to explore Arab
cultural history and mythology,
which became recurring themes in
his work.He continued his active
involvement in Iraq's arts
community by joining the group
known as the Baghdad Modern Art
Group, founded by the artist and
intellectual, Shakir Hassan Al Said,
in 1951, and later the New Vision
Group, for which he wrote the
manifesto, which was published in
a Baghdad newspaper in 1968.
During a turbulent political period
in Iraq, Azzawi served as a reservist
in the Iraq army between 1966
and 1973, where he witnessed
many atrocities. Through this
experience, he learned that he
needed to speak for those who
have no voice. A number of his
works are expressly designed to
give a voice to those who have
been silenced through war and
conflict.
He held the positions of Director
of the Iraqi Antiquities
Department in Baghdad (1968-76)
and Artistic Director of the Iraqi
Cultural Centre in London, where
he arranged a number of
exhibitions. He was the
inaugural editor of the magazine,
Ur (1978-1984) - a provactive new
journal published by the Iraqi
Cultural Centre in London.He was
also the editor of Funoon Arabiyyah
(1981-1982) and a member of the
editorial board of the scholarly
journal, Mawakif.
He was still living in Iraq when he
witnessed the demise of the
avantgarde art groups. At this time,
he became more actively involved
in the arts community. In 1968, he
founded the pivotal Iraqi art group,
Al-Ru’yah al-Jadida (New Vision)
and wrote its manifesto, Towards a
New Vision, which is co-signed by
Ismail Fatah Al Turk. Al-Ru’yah al-
Jadida represented a freer art style
which encouraged artists to remain
true to their own era., but also to
look to heritage and tradition for
inspiration. In this respect, it sought
to maintain the broad trends of the
prior art groups, such as the
Baghdad Modern Group, but at the
same time acknowledging that
artists were already developed a
more free style.

20. This group promoted the idea of
freedom of creativity within a
framework of heritage. He was also
a member of the group One
Dimension founded by Shakir
Hassan Al Said, which rejected the
earlier modern Arab art movement
as being too concerned with
European techniques and
aesthetics.
In the late 1970s, after Iraq came
under the control of Saddam
Hussein, Azzawi left his native land
and settled in London where he
met his first wife, the Swedish
born, Shashten Finstrom, who
worked at the Patrick Seale Gallery,
where Azzawi had his first solo
British exhibition, in 1978.
Azzawi now spends his time living
and working in both London and
Doha. In 1991, he was plunged
into despair when his saw the
destruction to his homeland
associated with the Gulf War. He
shut himself away in his home for
several months, concentrating on
his art and producing a series of
works, including the Balad Al Sawad
[Country of Blackness] series of
"violently drawn images of
terrified, crying and screaming
faces, haunting images of despair."
He is one of the pioneers of the
modern Arab art world, with a
special interest in the combination
of Arabic traditions, including
calligraphy, into modern art
compositions
Works
Azzawi was part of the generation
of people that saw their countries
and homelands fall to bloody
dictatorships and wars, and so
much of his work is a commentary
on the destruction and devastation
of Iraq due to war and invasion. His
piece, My Broken Dream , a
colossal monochromatic work, four
meters in height and ten in length,
is an assemblage of shapes, limps
and swords, and it is an attempt to
document a peoples pain, and in
the written statement of the
artwork, he writes, “Iraq is my inner
soul." In addition, Azzawi doesn’t
only give voice to his own plight,
but to those who are silenced as
well, including that of Palestine and
Iraqi Kurdistan. One example,

21. The Land of Sad Oranges, is a
set of black and white drawings
consisting of faceless heads and
limp bodies, based on the short
story of the same name by
Palestinian writer, Ghassan
Kanafani.
Azzawi was inspired to draw
this set after Kanafani, a close
friend of his, was murdered in
1972 by the Mossadand in these
drawings, he tries to explore the
condition of statelessness and
particularly the effect it has on
the individual. In an interview
with Saphora Smith for the
Telegraph in 2016, Azzawi said, “I
feel I am a witness. If I can give a
voice to somebody who has no
voice,
that is what I should do,” and with
this work he tries to document
the inner struggle of refugees
and explore themes of exile and
displacement.
The art historian, Nada Shabout,
has classified Dia Azzawi's work as
belonging to the School of
Calligraphic Art (also known as
the Hurufiyya movement) using a
style termed calligraphic
combinations, which means that he
combines abstract, freeform and
classical styles
His works are held in prestigious art
galleries, art museums and public
collections including in both the
West and the Middle East: Vienna
Public Collection; British Museum,
London; Victoria and Albert
Museum, London; Gulbenkian
Collection, Barcelona; The World
Bank, Washington D.C.; Library of
Congress, Washington D.C.; Institut
du Monde Arabe, Paris; Museum of
Modern Art, Paris; Bibilotheque
Nationale, Paris; Pier Gardin
Collection, Paris; Museum of
Modern Art, Baghdad; Museum of
Modern Art, Damascus; Museum of
Modern Art, Tunis; Arab Museum
of Modern Art, Doha; Adel Mandil
Collection, Riyadh; The Saudi Bank,
London; Jeddah International
Airport, Saudi Arabia; Riyadh
International Airport, Saudi Arabia;
The United Bank of Kuwait,
London; Development Fund,
Kuwait, Una Foundation, Morocco;
Jordan National Gallery of Fine
Arts, Amman; and the British
Airways Collection, London.

22. A number of his works, formerly
held in the Iraq National Museum
of Modern Art, were subject to
the looting that occurred in 2003
following the US invasion of Iraq.
At least one of these, The Lost City,
rated as one of the top 100
missing works, has since been
repatriated. The stolen artworks
have been involved in controversy
within art circles. A private Iraqi
seller, offered The Lost City, for
sale with a $50,000 price tag,
to a gallery in 2011, in spite of
the fact that it was listed by
Interpol as a stolen artwork. With
the assistance of the gallery, US
Embassy in Baghdad, Interpol and
the FBI, the work was eventually
recovered and returned to the
rightful owner, the Iraq National
Museum of Modern Art.
He has promoted Arabic art and
culture through both his writing
and his art. He has published some
fourteen books, numerous articles
and has edited art magazines. He
was the Art Director of the
International Magazine of Arab
Culture, between 1978 and 1984.

23. http://www.aziz_anzabi.com