From 23 September 2021 to 13 February 2022, the Institut des Cultures d’Islam in Paris will be holding This Will Also Pass, the first exhibition in Europe by Hossein Valamanesh.
For more than forty years, this Australian artist of Iranian origin has been exploring via many different mediums the themes of love, nature, and spirituality, creating an entirely coherent intimate, and universal oeuvre, inspired both by his roots and his adoptive land.
A selection of works dating from the 1980s to the present day enables visitors to discover his approach inspired by the writings of Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, the thirteenth-century Persian mystical poet who had a profound influence on Sufism. Combining surrealistic humour and the sobriety of Arte Povera, Hossein Valamanesh freely brings together many references that evoke his childhood memories, his experience of exile, and the profound spiritual links between the Aborigines and their environment, and combines them, creating an awareness of the impermanence of all things and beings: ‘This Will Also Pass’.
True to the fluidity of this thought process, the exhibition explores various epochs and sources of inspiration, pre-existing works, and those specifically created for the event.
Born in 1949, Tehran, Iran, Hossein Valamanesh lives and works in Adelaide, South Australia. He emigrated from Iran to Perth in 1973. Valamanesh works with different media from installation to sculpture, painting, and collage. Inspired by personal experiences and memories, he uses ordinary objects and natural materials to create visual poetry that reflects on his life in Australia and his experiences of his birthplace, Iran.
