Iran Daily - Panorama - 11/12/05 - Parviz Tanavoli

Iran Daily - Panorama - 11/12/05: "Parviz Tanavoli

Vanguard sculpture, researcher and author, Parviz Tanavoli, was born in 1937 in Tehran. He graduated from Tehran School of Arts in 1956. He also attended Academia di Belle Arti in Carrara, Italy in 1956. He took a course in sculpture in Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan, Italy in 1958.
Taking part in the First Sculpture Biennial of Tehran in 1958, he was awarded the Sculpture Prize. He participated in the 29th Venice Biennale in 1958. Tanavoli won the Royal Prize in Painting and Sculpture at the Second Tehran Biennial in 1960. His work was represented in the 30th Venice Biennale. He took part in the Third Tehran Biennial in 1962. He went to the United States then and did not participate in the fourth to seventh Tehran biennials, which were organized prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
He established “Atelier Kaboud,“ exhibiting his works in Tehran in 1960. Tanavoli began teaching at the former College of Decorative Arts (current University of Fine Arts) in 1960. He built a foundry and workshop for Tehran University, funded by the Grey Foundation in 1962. He taught at the university until 1979. He has taught sculpture at the Minneapolis College of Arts and Design during 1960-63.
Tanavoli is the pioneer of modern sculpture in Iran. His first contemporary sculpture was installed at Shiraz University in 1969. He installed his first outdoor sculpture in Tehran, in front of the City Theater in 1972. He crafted his first sculptures called “Farhad“ and “Heech (Nil)“ in the West. He installed on campus of Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota, the eleven-foot stainless steel Heech sculpture in 1971. The statue was praised by great Western statue-makers.
He has participated in over 100 solo and group exhibitions and collections including Grey Art Gallery, New York University; Sammlung Ludwig, Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna; Ludwig Forum fur Internationale Kunst, Aachen; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Hamline University, St. Paul, Minneapolis; Outdoor Sculpture, Dakar, Senegal; Olympiad of Arts, Seoul; and Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts.
It is virtually impossible to separate his work as an artist from his passionate engagement as a researcher, teacher, collector and author. Tanavoli is one of the most knowledgeable people in the world on the village and tribal rugs of Iran. Tanavoli founded the Association of Persian Rug Supporters in 1973. He collected several thousand pieces of tribal hand-woven works during his visits to his home country after his immigration to Canada in 1989. He wishes to launch permanent regional museums featuring tribal culture.
He has authored a number of books dubbed “Shahsavan Iranian Rugs and Textiles,“ “Bread and Salt,“ “Lion Rugs From Fars,“ “Locks From Iran“ and “Tacher from Chaharmahal.“
Some of his sculptures include “Wall and Script,“ “Poet in Cage,“ “Hand in Hand,“ “Fallen Bird,“ “Reclining Poet,“ and “The Poet and the Cypress Tree.“"