Fereydoun Ave | "For Nowruz": Dastan's Basement

Dastan's Basement and +2 present Fereydoun Ave's latest collection of works, "For Nowruz" and "Large Works on Canvas", opening April 5 through 26, 2024. The artist's spring exhibitions have become a fixture in the Iranian art scene since he invited galleries to keep their doors open during the Iranian New Year (Nowruz) holidays a decade ago. Ninety works on paper and canvas, including six sculptures, will grace the gallery walls and floors. The artist's previous solo exhibition at Dastan, "Recent Works In Times of Quarantine" (2022) was also held in both spaces. A major retrospective of Fereydoun Ave, "Some Seasons: Fereydoun Ave and the Laal Collection", curated by Negar Azimi and Sohrab Mohebbi, was held at Art Jameel, Dubai, UAE, in 2023. The second installment of the retrospective, curated by Ave, opened in January 2024 at Total Arts Gallery in Dubai and shall be on view until July 2024.

Fereydoun Ave insists that "For Nowruz" and "Large Works on Canvas" are not part of any series but simply the outcome of "doing". Laying small tablecloths on his workbench, the artist allowed for lines and shapes to create forms, and for accidents to become handrests for other canvases, large and small. The Covid years forced the 79-year-old to walk from his home to his studio every day to engage in tireless work and to summon what he yearned for most during those times of isolation – connection with the cosmos. The walk was through a woodland.