Aziz Art Nov2015

Tabrizi expanded the domain of his
explorations and, using traditional
Iranian motifs and techniques,
created numerous works in fresh
forms. These techniques included
tile work, engraving, book
illustration, plaster work, collage,
painting on old inscriptions,
painting on glass, use of mirrors in
painting, and use of padlocks,
chains, and various objects. These
techniques are examples of
proposals that the artists offered
to the Iranian contemporary art
world. Tabrizi made a
juxtaposition of his personal
documents – including school
workbooks, identification
notebook, school identification
cards, certificates, bank notebooks,
athletic club cards, and university
entrance exam card – on a panel
within a composition decorated
with sealing wax and the common
inscriptions found on documents
and seals. Entitled Life Workbook,
the work was displayed along with
other works inspired by spells and
the illustrated pages of books that
were shown along with Massoud
Arabshahi's relief works at the
Faculty of Fine Arts of Tehran
University in 1964. Life Workbook
can be considered a proposition for
"conceptual art," but this was not
what Tabrizi intended.
Tabrizi graduated from university in
1964, and decided to continue for a
Master's degree along with
Ghandriz, Pilaram, and Arabshahi.
Top students of the Faculty of Fine
Arts, including Morteza Momayez,
Rouyin Pakbaz, Hadi Hazaveyee,
Sirous Malek, and Mohammad
Mahalati, who would be considered
an opposite camp to the students
of the Faculty of Decorative Arts,
established a gallery along with
Tabrizi, Pilaram, Arabshahi, and
Ghandriz. This effort had been
previously made by others, but had
never succeeded. This group of
thirteen artists succeeded in
gathering many avant-garde artists
together at the Iran Auditorium,
and in organizing the first wellreceived
exhibition. Activities at the
Iran Auditorium reached a point
where artists that included Sohrab
Sepehri, Bijan Safāri, Marcos
Grigorian, Parviz Tanavoli, and
Manochehr Sheibani, were invited
to hold a group exhibition at the
Saderat Bank building in Jomhouri
St.