1. ShirazehHoushiary Presence

2. Who?

3. ShirazehHoushiary Born in Shiraz, Iran in 1955. Moved to London in 1974, and studies at Chelsea School of Art (1976-1979). Junior Fellow in Cardiff College of Art (1979-1980). Also did her first solo exhibition in Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff in 1980.

4. Her work draws strong influence from Persian culture, and displays a spiritual concern. Her visions of her artwork are inspired from Sufi doctrine and Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, a Persian mystic and poet from the 13th century.

5. She was nominated for a Turner Prize in 1994. Her works are included in the Museum of Modern Art, New York and The Tate Collection, London. Her monumental tower, Breath, in collaboration with Pip Horne, was displayed in the Creative Time Art’s on The Plaza in 2005.

6. What is it?

7. Her painting, which was featured in the ‘What Is Painting?’ exhibition was titled, ‘Presence’.

8. ShirazehHoushiary, Presence, 2000, aquacryl with silverpoint and graphite on canvas, 6' 3" x 6' 3" (190.5 x 190.5 cm)

9. At first glance, the painting looks like an empty greyish canvas. Upon closer inspection, it is actually horizontal bands of grey mist that is the one-third on the top of the painting. Houshiary considers the two-third blank white space of the painting to be a “colourless space or void”. If you stand really close to the painting, the said grey mist blends itself with the canvas, thus vanishing the tiny grey marks.

10. What does it mean?

11. The painting has less to say, but much to talk about.

12. What is painting? It is an open-ended question.

13. References

14. Hotbox Studios, 2010, ShirazehHoushiary, viewed 19 September 2010, http://www.shirazehhoushiary.com Museum of Modern Art, 2010, viewed 19 September 2010, http://moma.org