Lot 125: FARHAD MOSHIRI (IRANIAN, B. 1963) KITTEN (from the Flufy Friends series) si

FARHAD MOSHIRI (IRANIAN, B. 1963) KITTEN (from the Flufy Friends series) signed and dated in Farsi; signed, titled and dated ‘Farhad Moshiri 2009 KITTEN’ (on the reverse) acrylic, glitter and resin on canvas 78 3/4 x 67¿in.(200 x 170.5cm.) Executed in 2009

PROVENANCE: The Third Line, Dubai. Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2009. LITERATURE: R. Janssen, The Third Line, Perrotin & T. Ropac (eds.), Farhad Moshiri, Brussels 2010 (illustrated in colour, p. 105). N. Azimi, Flufy Farhad, in Bidoun, issue 20, Spring 2010 (illustrated in colour, accessed online). Contemporary artist Farhad Moshiri’s incredible multidisciplinary and multimedia artistic technique can be considered an art in itself. Upon Moshiri’s return to Iran in 1991, he observed the expansion of the nouveau-riche society in his native country following the gradual growth of the economy under President Khatami. In reaction to his environment, a large part of Moshiri’s oeuvre carries criticism of the contemporary Iranian society and the growing appetite for the superfcial, the glitter and shine through satirically kitsch series of works. Moshiri began a series of canvases upon which he added acrylic pastries by squeezing paint through pastry bags, a technique generally used for cake icing. These ‘Cake paintings’ recalled the frosty vitrines of Tehran bakeries and appeared as innocent and joyful works of art, yet often suggested the outrageously baroque excesses of the Iranian middle class. Mastering the use of a wide range of sparkling luxurious mediums including Swarovski crystals, embroidery and acrylic pastries, Moshiri succeeded at creating works imbued with political and social satire despite their cheerful and whimsical veneer and the artist undeniably stood at the forefront of the contemporary Iranian art scene. His Pop dialect and his innovative techniques hinted at the contemporary consumerist and branding culture while referring to the many paradoxes reigning in the Iranian contemporary society. Childhood elements flled Moshiri’s works such as toy cars, robots and stufed animals. The present work, Kitten, from his Flufy Friends series, is reminiscent of his own childhood and seems to move away from the underlying social statement that was infused in most of his earlier works. Along with Bunny Rabbit, Tiger and Ducky, Kitten is deliberately non-political, playing instead with humour and recalling the artist’s childhood memories. It references fairy tales, 1950s-era children textbooks and the popular Western television series for children through the depiction of a kitsch and cartoon-like character that appeals to the subconscious sensibilities of his Western audience. However, these fgures that frst seem playful, innocent and pure carry some cynical quality suggesting the complexity of the universe of childhood. Like pixels to a photograph in Kitten, each acrylic pastry is carefully coloured and juxtaposed onto the surface of the canvas. The reliefs formed accentuate the shimmering and gleam of the work and ofer a highly textured and sculptural aspect. The simplicity of the composition with an overall saccharine colour palette and the innocence of its subject emphasised through the use of whites and fashy pinks create a sense of comfort and ingenuousness that recalls the attachment of a child to his teddy bears. Within the successful and acclaimed career of the artist, the power struggles of the contemporary society and amongst his works charged with political and social satire, Kitten denotes a joyful and dreamlike interlude and perhaps reveals the artist’s longing for innocence and integrity. In continuation of Moshiri’s perpetual success, the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA will present a show of Farhad Moshiri in October 2017.