ARASH SADAGHATISH

In a historical context, the watercolourist was bound by conventions of scale, the intensity of color or background. To question these traditional views of watercolour the artist chooses to paint on a large scale, without backgrounds, utilising the same techniques employed in smaller watercolours. These watercolours depict Iranian students as they appear in everyday life, how they dress and present themselves. There are certain dress codes and laws in Iran that restrict what can be worn. In a county where everything has a political or religious significance, the dress becomes an emotive form of self-expression that needs to be controlled. For Arash Sedaghatkish it is all about learning, and practice of patience, energy and time, in order to complete and to excel. This is accomplishment arrived at by great effort and determination; the strengthening of the body and the mind, the learning and the perfection of one's skills and excellence achieved through long practice. Through his watercolours, the artist explores the boundaries of the medium, the conviction of scale in watercolour and the necessity or accordingly lack of the background. The paintings are fluid and translucent, as is watercolour. In these series spots of colour and water come together, in a slow-motion and patient manner, to create large scale paintings that their accuracy and size are contradictory to the well-established genre of watercolour painting. The control of the artist on the medium and his clarity about his subject is evident and the next act is to have the animated subjects of the paintings at the gallery to complete the installation.

Solo Shows:

2009 - Aaran Gallery, Tehran, Iran 

2008 - Wolverhampton Art Gallery, UK

2006 - Tehran University, Tehran, Iran

1998 - Vesal Gallery, Shiraz, Iran

Group Shows:

2010 - Contemporary notes, Assar Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2010 - IRAN DIVERSO: Black Or White? VERSO Artecontemporanea, Torino, Italy

2009 - DePaul Art Museum, Chicago, USA

2009 - Iran inside out, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, USA

2009 - Khavaran Gallery, Shiraz, Iran

2009 - Iran on Paper (The last 10 years), Aran Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2007 - Tehran Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2003 - Sarv Gallery, Shiraz, Iran

2002 - Sabz Gallery, Shiraz, Iran

2000 - Vesal Gallery, Shiraz, Iran

1994 - Sureh Gallery, Isfahan, Iran

1993 - Sureh Gallery, Isfahan, Iran