Ardeshir Mohases - Iranian Caricature Artist
Ardeshir Mohases is one of Iran's most prolific modern artists and caricaturists. He started drawing when only a child; drawing the characters of his mother's bedtime stories. After recieving his degress in Law and Political Science from the University of Tehran, he continuted his interest in art and would later contribute to such publications as The New York Times, Harpers, Playboy, Jeune Afrique, Nation, Keyhan, Ettelaat, Ayandegan, Ferdousi.
Ardeshir says:
"I begin the morning looking at and making sketches from old pictures and photos, Persian miniatures, and old Iranian religious paintings that are full of scenes of beheadings, spears, and scimitars that drip blood on the flowers and grass on the hills in the background. I end the day drawing people in cafes, cabarets, and music halls, dancers and acrobats leaping and jumping.
I arrange my characters in the manner of the colored lights strung above the shops and streets of Iran during the festivals and religious celebrations. If a work requires color, I use the same colors that once decorated the handles of the old meat cleavers and carcasses of lambs in butcher shops.
While I'm drawing, everything I've read or heard goes around in my head. Sometimes I recall an anecdote of the famous poet of Iran, Ahmad Shamlou, related to me. It seems an Arab general, noted for his incredible strength in wielding a sword, could strike with such speed that his victims continued to fight without realizing that they were sliced in half. The general would call out to them, "If you're a man, move!" When they did, they fell into two pieces. Whenever I am involved with a drawing that isn't going the way it should and one of the characters isn't doing what I want him to, I lift my pen from the paper and say softly, 'If you’re a man, move.'"
Ardeshir lives in self-exile in New York City since 1979.
Reference:www.ifvc.com
Ardeshir says:
"I begin the morning looking at and making sketches from old pictures and photos, Persian miniatures, and old Iranian religious paintings that are full of scenes of beheadings, spears, and scimitars that drip blood on the flowers and grass on the hills in the background. I end the day drawing people in cafes, cabarets, and music halls, dancers and acrobats leaping and jumping.
I arrange my characters in the manner of the colored lights strung above the shops and streets of Iran during the festivals and religious celebrations. If a work requires color, I use the same colors that once decorated the handles of the old meat cleavers and carcasses of lambs in butcher shops.
While I'm drawing, everything I've read or heard goes around in my head. Sometimes I recall an anecdote of the famous poet of Iran, Ahmad Shamlou, related to me. It seems an Arab general, noted for his incredible strength in wielding a sword, could strike with such speed that his victims continued to fight without realizing that they were sliced in half. The general would call out to them, "If you're a man, move!" When they did, they fell into two pieces. Whenever I am involved with a drawing that isn't going the way it should and one of the characters isn't doing what I want him to, I lift my pen from the paper and say softly, 'If you’re a man, move.'"
Ardeshir lives in self-exile in New York City since 1979.
Reference:www.ifvc.com