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by Ardeshir Babaknia (Editor), Ali Banuazizi (Editor)
Over the past few decades, the Western World has become increasingly aware of the vibrancy, variety, and high caliber of contemporary artistic productions in Iran. The works of Ardeshir Mohassess, Iran's foremost contemporary cartoonist, graphic artist and painter, have undoubtedly played a key in propelling Iran's art scene onto the world stage. Winner of numerous awards, widely exhibited in Europe and America, and published in numerous art journals, magazines and newspapers, Mohassess's brilliantly-executed line drawings, biting cartoons, and brilliant colorful drawings have presented his piercing, and at the same time deeply humanistic, vision to the Western world. The present volume chronicles the evolution of Mohassess's work over several decades and in different cultural contexts. Each chapter presents a particular phase in his extraordinarily productive lifework-from his early satirical simple line-drawings in Iran, to drawings and paintings after his first direct exposure to Western art and culture in the early 1970s, to his images of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and finally his more abstract and colorful paintings that he created in the last three decades of exilic life in America. The book also includes a section of powerful drawings and paintings on the horrific events of the Holocaust. This collection of Ardeshir Mohassess's works, introduced by Professor Ali Banuazizi with brief introductory comments at the beginning of each thematic section, stands out as the most comprehensive and diverse presentation of the artist's prolific creative output. It is a treasure-trove of comic, disturbing, and thought-provoking drawings and paintings that are to be discovered and rediscovered for years to come. "A panoramic and revealing album of the life and works of Ardeshir Mohassess, Iran's foremost contemporary graphic artist. Babaknia and Banuazizi have insightfully chronicled the artist's creative development through an extensive representation of his drawings, collages, and paintings. The volume is a veritable visual feast that gives the viewer a rare chance to experience the life of the artist as lived through his work." Shahla Haeri, Professor of Anthropology, Boston University "The publication of these rarely seen masterpieces creates an opportunity for the public to discover the depth and breadth of the work of Ardeshir Mohassess-a pioneering figure in Iranian modern art." Nicky Nodjumi, Artist and Art Criti
