Itabashi Museum || Tokyo Japan || 2012

Itabashi Museum | Tokyo, Japan | 2012 

Dear Morteza:
Sorry about that.
The way I write can be hard to understand,
I think...especially late at night. I ordered
"Goodnight, Commander" in the mail, because
the bookstores where I live don't carry it. They
generally don't carry very good picture books,
I think...which is disappointing. But it came
in the mail, and I read it last night...and I
was so impressed! You and Amhad are
a very good match for each other. You
each create work with honesty and real
substance, real meaning. I feel like a lot
of picture books published in the USA don't
bother with that, and concentrate only on what
will sell. It felt so good to read a book that had
an important story to tell, with art that really did
help the reader to feel the story. I'm sure you've
been told this before, but your work has a very
'sophisticated innocence.' It lets any reader,
adult or child, to be the child in the story.
We know that we know more than the
narrator, and that makes it sadder,
and truer. So I suppose I wrote to
thank you and Ahmad for creating
a work of such honesty and intelligence.
I felt richer as a person, having read it...which
is how one feels, I think, after experiencing any
quality artwork. I'm working on creating a
couple of books right now, myself...and
I hope to produce work of the same sort
of quality, having something important
to say, sand saying it well. ...Looking
back at this email, I'm not sure if this
is any clearer. I know I can get a little
tangled in my sentences, and I hope I'm
not too confusing. Let me know, if I am.
I don't mind trying again. Thanks, Matthew.
PS. If there are Latin-based languages that
would be easier, let me know. I'm okay
with Spanish and Italian, but my French
is pretty weak.

Dear Morteza:
Sorry about that.
The way I write can be hard to understand,
I think...especially late at night. I ordered
"Goodnight, Commander" in the mail, because
the bookstores where I live don't carry it. They
generally don't carry very good picture books,
I think...which is disappointing. But it came
in the mail, and I read it last night...and I
was so impressed! You and Amhad are
a very good match for each other. You
each create work with honesty and real
substance, real meaning. I feel like a lot
of picture books published in the USA don't
bother with that, and concentrate only on what
will sell. It felt so good to read a book that had
an important story to tell, with art that really did
help the reader to feel the story. I'm sure you've
been told this before, but your work has a very
'sophisticated innocence.' It lets any reader,
adult or child, to be the child in the story.
We know that we know more than the
narrator, and that makes it sadder,
and truer. So I suppose I wrote to
thank you and Ahmad for creating
a work of such honesty and intelligence.
I felt richer as a person, having read it...which
is how one feels, I think, after experiencing any
quality artwork. I'm working on creating a
couple of books right now, myself...and
I hope to produce work of the same sort
of quality, having something important
to say, sand saying it well. ...Looking
back at this email, I'm not sure if this
is any clearer. I know I can get a little
tangled in my sentences, and I hope I'm
not too confusing. Let me know, if I am.
I don't mind trying again. Thanks, Matthew.
PS. If there are Latin-based languages that
would be easier, let me know. I'm okay
with Spanish and Italian, but my French
is pretty weak.

XVA Gallery at Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Booth W11


XVA Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in Shanghai Contemporary 2012. Showcasing Morteza Zahedi, Hadieh Shafie and Halim Al-Karim, we will be exhbiting from September 7th-9th in Booth W11.

XVA Gallery hosted a solo exhibition by Iranian artist Morteza Zahedi ‘Toy Story’. The new body of work comprises a large number of pieces created in a variety of medium – works on paper, bronzes and installation; including neon and found objects.
Asked if ‘True Story’ has a political “story” or statement behind it, Morteza told Al Maha “it is far away from politics, it is personal… Too personal & deep!”.

Walking by artworks, you feel it’s a journey of different characteristics, moods expressed in complex tiny pieces of toys. Now I know toys are suppose to bring back child-within but in Morteza works it is different. It’s a complicated universe of million types of people and personalities, composed all together to create life, experiences and memories some are good and others are bad… Morteza’s toys looks within us not the other way around, bringing our current personas not the ones that held and played with ‘toys’!

Salsali Private Museum
Dubai
www.salsalipm.com

Salsali Private Museum
Dubai
www.salsalipm.com

Visitor in front of the series ‘The Colorful Frenzy’ by Morteza Zahedi, Dubai Art fair (2012)