Aziz Art July 2019

A1one is the pseudonym of Karan
Reshad, an Iranian visual artist
who pioneered graffiti and street
art in Iran.His career as a street
artist began in his hometown,
Tehran.
Life and career
A1one grew up in Iran during a
period of war and the Khatami
reform era (1997-2005). A1one
studied for 5 years at the Art and
architecture university in Tehran.
While still a student, he began
using graffiti around the university
campus, as a protest against
student conditions.He was
eventually expelled by the
School's President following a
disagreement over artistic
restrictions.
After being expelled from
University, his graffiti activities in
the city of Tehran increased.
A1one was the first person to
start painting on the city walls.
His name can be interpreted as
"Alone" or "First One".A1one
started painting walls in the late
1990s. He is the pioneer of the
urban art scene in Middle East.
When he began, it was a time when
nobody knew what graffiti was in
his country. He had a very
influential role in the rise of street
art and stenciling within Iran.
Already involved in urban arts in
general, he met in 2005 the rapper
Nima who told him everything
about the graffiti culture which
triggered A1one's desire to grow in
that direction. His first significant
work was a painting under the
Tehran-Karaj expressway called
Searching for Friends.
He started his street art project in
2003 and inspired his close friends
at that time to also begin painting
on the streets. Artists such as Elle,
isba, K.T. and Magoi were the first
people to join him in Tehran. With
his public space art, he describes
his view on the Iranian society and
puts himself regularly in danger.
"When I decided to do my painting
on walls I bought some spray cans -
at that time we had just some very
low quality colors in Iran.