Hadi Alijani

FR / Né en 1987 à Sari, en Iran, Hadi Alijani est diplômé d'une maîtrise en peinture à l'Université d'art de Shahed. Intéressé par l'art iranien, et particulièrement la peinture persane, ses oeuvres sont influencées par des sources historiques, des images personnelles et quotidiennes. Hadi Alijani reflète ses réactions au monde, son expression contemporaine propose une relecture de l'identité, de la culture et l'art de l'Iran, un mélange hypnotisant du monde intérieur du peintre et de l'histoire visuelle iranienne.

EN / Born in 1987 in Sari, Iran, Hadi Alijani graduated from Shahed University of Art with a Master's degree in painting. Interested in Iranian art, particularly Persian painting, his works are influenced by historical sources, personal and everyday images. Hadi Alijani reflects his reactions to the world, his contemporary expression offers a re-reading of Iran's identity, culture and art, a mesmerizing blend of the painter's inner world and Iranian visual history.

"The past meets the present in lightning to create a system.[1]"

“Over the years, Iranian visual sources have always been my source of inspiration; in such a way that in my works, the effects of Iranian painting can be seen directly and indirectly. My main concern and motivation for referring to Qajar paintings is to discover and understand my identity and position as a contemporary human being and painter. Whereas our identity in the present age is directly dependent on the past; Understanding and analyzing Qajar art and culture as the source of past identity and the source of formation of contemporary identity is inevitable.

Cultural and visual identity is my main topic in this series. The issue of identity had a more integrated than pre-Safavid and pre-Qajar, but since the late Safavid, this relatively unified identity has undergone a sudden influx of Western culture and elements, which we see at its peak in the Qajar era Such as the arrival of photography, artists and western subjects, such as Western naturalism and still-life as the main subject; all imported elements that we had not had in Iranian visual culture before. In particular, in this project, my focus is on still-life and Qajar artists, especially Kamal-ol-Molk. The position of still-life in this era, from a sub-element to the main subject and for me is a symbol of the evolution of the perspective of Iranian human and Qajar artist. I studied and reviewed Kamal-ol-Molk directly and considered it the best source for reference because he is one of the most prominent Qajar artists who deeply understood the Iranian visual tradition, he was also a painter who was directly acquainted with the Western works, so that both Eastern and Western elements can be found in his oeuvres. Therefore, I found them the best subject to approach making experience and clear understanding of Qajar and, consequently, contemporary human and society; it means discovering the buried time and spaces of the past and the present through the intersection of the past heritage with the present perception, with my contemporary visual knowledge to gain personal knowledge of the works and achievements of the Qajar era and the historical roots of Iranian painting and subsequently, I approach the expression of the identity of human and contemporary artist.

The purpose of this project is to study the inanimate nature and perspective in the East - specifically in Iranian painting and the Qajar era and its relationship with the West. I tried to represent and discover the aesthetics of this era with a contemporary perspective. In these paintings, I used visual and formal signs with ironic expression; elements such as architecture (interior and exterior space), simultaneous use of two-dimensional and three-dimensional perspective; Cats, carpets, tables and chairs (common subjects of Qajar artists), direct use of Kamal-ol-Molk's works as a source of discovery and inspiration; organic and exaggerated plants, fruits and herbs ‌-taken from north of Iran, which are in contrast to the lush decorative still-life of Qajar.

The title of the series is "In Search of Lost Space"; the same identity and self-image that are depicted ironically in these works. In a way, I wanted to show the interaction of the present and the past as a space that has never disappeared, and we always carry them with us; the hybrid identity of human and contemporary artist.”

 [1] Shaygan, Daryoush(2013), In Search of Lost Spaces, p96.

Exhibitions curated by Emmanuelle Luciani

2023. “History of Fantasy : Part II”, Cob Gallery, Londres

2022. “Weirdness Boudoir“, pour Art-O-Rama, Marseille.

2022. “In Search of Lost Space”, Pavillon Southway, Marseille, France.