An interview with Kazem Khorasani referring to a collective art exhibition “The Infinity of Repetition”.

The enchantment of letters and numbers on the canvas.

A calligraphy-painting exhibition was held by students of Kazem Khorasani, a prominent artist from Ferdows, on May 6, at Rezvan Gallery. In this exhibition, the variety of methods shows the profound interest of his students in calligraphy- painting.

Niloufer Hakimian, Maryam Etemadi, Saber Bekaian, Asal Ghasemi, Atefeh Khosravi, Seyyed Ahmad Hosseini Abrishami, Majid Abdolah pour, Farzaneh Sabour Maleki, Haniyeh Rafati, Saba Kheradmand, Zahra Dehghan, Katayoun Rozbehi, Rihaneh Rahighi, Zahra Hosseini, Fatemeh Yadgari, Rahele Kafi, Mozhgan Kamali, Behnaz Solati, Maryam Nosrati, Prastoo Salamat, Fatemeh Sadeghi, Javad Saberi Khoshkhoo, Noorolsadat Hosseini, Roohollah Asghari and Samane Ebrahimpour are some artists who exhibited their artworks. This exhibition continued until May 11.

High status of calligraphy- painting as a form of art

“We chose The Infinity of Repetition as a title for this exhibition based on the repetition of letters. Said Khorasani with ShahrAra newspaper.

Khorasani, who graduated with a Ph.D. in art research, considers calligraphy- painting as a type of painting in which letters, words, and numbers are used as visual elements in mainly abstract artwork. He also believes that in this style of art, we created a painting rather than seeking line, reading, and calligraphy.

“This exhibition was held based on a call for participation given to the students last month. About 80% of artworks were created in the last ten days and a few of them may belong to the time before that”. Khorasani added.

Khorasani, who has held many exhibitions and workshops inside and outside the country, says: We gave all the students participating in this exhibition the freedom to create their artwork as they wish in terms of technique and dimensions. They were from different educational backgrounds and many of them had participated in t modern Kofi script courses. That is why the approach in their work is based on this script.

The Importance of Iranian Arts Elements

Khorasani, who is the author of several books and scientific research articles, says: Twenty-five artists presented their artworks in this exhibition. We held two exhibitions with them about three months ago in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. A significant number of them were sold and the result was satisfying.

In terms of the art economy, he considers the priority of calligraphy-painting at the top of visual arts and added: “We are witnessing that most of the calligraphy-painting artworks sell well and have a special status in galleries and auctions. The reason is that the artist presents their painting with a painterly language and expression and uses letters, numbers, and words that double its attraction as elements of Iranian identity”.

He also stated that calligraphy painting is developing daily and has its own place: Most paintings are in the Kufic style, and we do not have any artwork in the Iranian style. Impressionism, Realism, and many more are being worked on and are part of European art stylistics and named after the 18th century. Therefore, we have no such thing as style; that is why the Saqqakhane School formed at the same time and after modern art in the world. It resulted in a glimpse of Europeans’ and Westerners’ views on Eastern art to be established in the artworks, and it also entered the elements of Iranian arts to the painting that calligraphy- painting gained more importance.