Parastou Forouhar. In the Sign of the Ornament
The works of the renowned Iranian-German artist Parastou Forouhar fascinate with a very special, ornamental aesthetic, which reveals the actual content only at second glance: stories of people and violence. In the 2018 exhibition “Parastou Forouhar: In the Sign of the Ornament ” at the Kunsthalle Göppingen, two large-format wall ornamentations by the artist were shown.
As viewers initially approach the works from a spatial distance, they perceive their fascinating ornamental quality before the full, complex realities of Forouhar ‘s works unfold. Only then, upon closer observation, do viewers lose themselves in the violent details.
The cover image used for the exhibition catalog – a small excerpt from the work “The Time of Butterflies” – throws us straight into the action. It is impossible to escape those eyes. The visual experience is intensified by a haptic one as the fine, geometrically exact structure of the cover paper (Rives Design by Arjowiggins), the precise digital renderings of the artist as well as the ornamental theme of the exhibition unite.
Inside the book, the intriguingly haptic feel continues with uncoated paper. In the inner part of the book are two gatefolds to open, allowing more space for the illustrations of the wall hangings specially created for the exhibition.
Photography: Frank Kleinbach, Parastou Forouhar
96 pages, 58 illustrations (color), 20 x 25 cm (closed), ISBN 978-3-947317-05-9
Hardcover; thread-bound; colored endpapers; fine-embossed cover paper (River Design by Arjowiggins); 2 gatefolds (gutter); uncoated natural paper (body copy)
Dr. Melanie Arjah, Werner Meyer