Fereydoun Ave | "Retrospective Part I": Dubai, UAE

Dastan is proud to present "Fereydoun Ave: Retrospective Part 1" in Dubai. The exhibition will open on October 4 and will continue through October 30, 2023. The show includes a selection of more than one hundred works by Fereydoun Ave spanning over five decades, reviewing his prolific life and expansive artistic practice.

Fereydoun Ave (b. 1945, Tehran) is an influential figure in the Iranian contemporary art scene. He received his BA in Applied Arts for Theatre from Arizona State University (1964), studied Film at New York University (1969), and attended the University of Seven Seas (aka Semester at Sea, 1964). Over the past five decades, he has taken on many roles as an artist, designer, art director, collector, curator, gallerist, and art patron. Fereydoun Ave's joint projects with artists, galleries, and institutions are an integral part of his practice.

Having had the pleasure of working with Fereydoun Ave since its establishment, Dastan has been part of many of his projects through the past decade. By introducing this exhibition, Dastan seeks to present a glimpse into the diverse and multi-dimensional world and practice of the artist.

Like everyone else, Fereydoun Ave is a puzzle, here are some of its pieces:

Fereydoun Ave belongs to the dancers among artists— crossing cultural boundaries and mastering life with a lightness of being, intuition and, at times, an element of calculation. Ave strives to comprehend and make visible what he experiences by thinking in broad complexes of interrelated dimensions.

Peter Fischer in Fereydoun Ave - Shah Abbas and his Page Boy, AB43 Contemporary, Zurich, 2016

Fereydoun Ave believes his importance lies in his introduction of new generations of artists. He probably sees himself as a bridge connecting one era to another. But others consider him important for his sophisticated taste and his continuous presence in the area of theater, graphic design, photography, painting and sculpture for more than half a century […] I have no doubt that to understand Fereydoun Ave’s life, one must realize that to him lifestyle is a form of belief, a form of romantic/religious faith.

Shahrouz Nazari in Fereydoun Ave: Half a Century, Contemporary Art Publications and Lajevardi Foundation, Tehran, 2020

It can be said that the subtle monotheism of this artist’s simple themes draws upon the same thing: a theme that despite very subtle nuances, reflects the inexpressible flow of being that ceaselessly churns and is never ending, its traces emerging as folds, tears, scattered gleams of fragmented marks and folding waves, all reflecting the fleeting vibrations of a primal energy. […] The techniques he adopts for this purpose are innovated by Ave himself. In his works a form of “faded writing” can be found that relies on the silent language of signs and dim traces, secretly allowing the emergence of hidden tonalities, unvoiced words, and evasive thoughts that are close to the edge of absence.

Dariush Shayegan in Fereydoun Ave: Half a Century, Contemporary Art Publications and Lajevardi Foundation, Tehran, 2020

The opening of the exhibition will feature a book signing of "Fereydoun Ave: Half a Century," a recent publication that takes a broad look at the artist's work through the years.

"Fereydoun Ave: Retrospective Part 1" could not have been possible without the help of Farhad Bakhtiar and his personal collection of the artist’s work.