FAD Magazine
FAD Magazine covers contemporary art- News, Exhibitions, Interviews and cool art stuff reported on from London
By Mark Westall • 8 August 2022
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ADVOCARTSY, a contemporary fine art gallery specializing in Iranian contemporary art has collaborated with emerging cutting-edge NFT marketplace, MetaMural for NFT drop IRANIAN MINT.
“IRANIAN MINT” addresses themes of heritage, fairytale, identity, and memory within a curation of works by artists of Iranian origin including, Pouya Afshar, Kourosh Beigpour, Ali Dadgar, Siavash Jaraiedi, Mobina Nouri, Hadi Salehi, Shadi Yousefian, Xâmuš, and NFT veteran Z-Hovak. The interactive and unique experience will showcase physical works in addition to debut mints to present a fluid connection between NFTs and the artists’ traditional practice.
The genesis of this collaboration and marketplace comes at a time when the crypto markets are
headlining news of uncertainty and volatility. Despite this volatility, MetaMural finds this an
opportune time to elevate the important work, dialogue, and provenance of artists who bring
context and value to the NFT art realm. This is a pertinent time to bring focus to a new concept
of NFTs that distinguish themselves from the muddle of hyped projects overwhelming the
space.
As an art advocate and gallerist, I am always seeking exciting ways to elevate the awareness and engagement of the artists I represent as we build community through Iranian contemporary art. In fact, this is a core mission of ADVOCARTSY It is a natural progression for fine artists and galleries to explore and expand their practice into the digital realm and the certification process supported by blockchain technology. I am excited to join forces with MetaMural, not only for the first drop with ADVOCARTSY, but as a partner to support other global gallerists with the same mission. MetaMural provides galleries a distinct opportunity to carry their voice into the fine art NFT space, with cutting edge dynamic smart contract technology that facilitates collaborative projects, and support and marketing of a professional team committed to their success. We are very excited to be part of this new frontier.”
With a focus on community building, MetaMural will host a unique Engage-to-Earn model that rewards community members for their time and involvement with physical and digital events, continuously leveling them up in the Insider Art Societies rankings and allowing them to unlock additional utility within the ecosystem. MetaMural is revolutionizing how experiencing art in the metaverse can create meaning as well as earnings and exponential engagement with the arts.
“MetaMural also wants to acknowledge the community members and to make blue-chip art fun.” say partners Roshi and Radin. The focus on community building is also furthered by participational incentives as all attending participants at the launch event will receive a MetaMural Proof-of-Attendance (POAP) initiating them into the first level of MetaMural’s Art Insider Societies. Inclusiveness is also the core of how the platform gives back; integrated into the ethos of the community is an ART-of-GIVING philosophy that will direct revenue to art and environmental nonprofit
The founding pair boil it down to,
“Our mission is to improve the experience of enthusiasts, collectors, artists, curators and galleries, and institutions, ensuring maximum yield of emotional, educational, and monetary value for all involved.”
Pouya Afshar is an alumnus of the California Institute of Arts Character Animation department and is a graduate of University of California Los Angeles Graduate Department of Film and Television focusing in Animation and Digital Media. He has exhibited his work as a visual artist throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, including Harold M. Williams Auditorium at the Getty Center, Bovard Auditorium at University of Southern California, Royce Hall at University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Santa Monica Art Studios, 18th street Art Center, Craft Contemporary Museum, and numerous galleries and art fairs around the world. He is the creator, character designer and producer of the animated series ‘Rostam in Wonderland’ and the co-creator of ‘1PA2PA’ comics and the creator of
‘Tehran’ graphic novel. He is currently an Associate Professor of Art and Design at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
Xamus Be quiet, the secret cannot be spoken, it is wrapped in silence.
Kourosh Beigpour is an award-winning graphic artist/designer based in LA. He received his BFA
from the Tehran University of Art and his MFA in International Contemporary Art and Design from Limkokwing University. Beigpour’s designs have been published in more than twenty countries; synthesizing Persian and Arabic typography with creative illustrations, his impressive portfolio showcases his love and appreciation for millennia-old Iranian art and culture. Beigpour
has designed graphic works for a wide range of clients such as Google, The Broad Museum,
The Getty, Powerhouse Museum, UCI, UCLA, NEIU, OSU, Canada Type, DoppelHouse Press,
and The Samuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies.
Born in 1960s Iran, Ali Dadgar immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1970s. He went on to receive
his BFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, in 1989 followed by an MFA in
Art Practice from the University of California, Berkeley in 2007. He was a lecturer in the
Department of Art Practice at the University of California Berkeley between 2006 and 2009 and
is the recipient of multiple awards, including the UC Berkeley Outstanding GSI Award in 2007.
His work has been placed in prominent private and public collections, including the University
of California Berkeley Morrison Library.
Born in 1984 in Iran, Siavash Jaraiedi has been constructing sculptures and writing poetry from
childhood. Always intrigued by design, Jaraiedi studied the foundations of architecture in
Tehran before going on to receive his Masters in Advanced Architectural Design from the
Staedelschule School of Art in Frankfurt, Germany in 2010. From 2015, Jaraiedi studied under
and eventually assisted esteemed sculptor Parviz Tanavoli at his studio in Tehran. Jaraiedi’s
sculptures pay homage to the artist’s various influences, seamlessly integrating his many talents
in an effort to capture and visually distill the essence of his poetry. The resulting artworks are
enchanting and surreal monuments of truth.
Mobina Nouri is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice reflects her personal history as a
female immigrant. Now based in San Francisco, Nouri received her BA in Performance Art and
MA in Art and Design from Tehran Art University, Iran and her PhD in Creativity from City
University London, UK. Working across a variety of media, Nouri mines her country’s tradition of
storytelling, often turning to philosophies and mysticism to contemplate and reconsider the
complexities of the contemporary moment. Mobina Nouri’s work has been extensively
exhibited and is included in private collections worldwide.
Hadi Salehi is a master of the art of analog photography. Salehi’s images capture diverse
portraits that are powerful and soft, leaving a haunting quality that lingers in the psyche. Salehi
seeks to create a collective awareness as a cultural messenger through his images, revealing
quiet truths in his process-intensive works. With a career that spans more than 40 years, Salehi
has closely documented cultural innovators such as Keith Haring, as well as developed a vast
body of analog, digital, film, and mixed media works. Hadi Salehi is a graduate of Art Center
College of Design, Pasadena, and currently resides in Los Angeles.
Shadi Yousefian is an artist whose mixed media work reflects and addresses issues that touch
on universal themes such as loss, dislocation, alienation, and reinvention. She received both her
Bachelor’s (2003) and Master’s (2006) of Fine Arts in photography from San Francisco State
University. Her work engages personal and social issues of contemporary life, particularly
cultural identity and the immigrant experience. Shadi has been the recipient of several awards
including the Best of Photography Award at the 13th Annual Stillwell Show, The International
Photo Awards (IPA 2004 and 2005), The Murphy & Cadogan Fellowship in the Fine Arts, and
the International Photography Competition (Latitude Life). The Los Angeles County Museum of
Art has also acquired her work. She currently lives and works in Berkeley, California.
Z-Hovak Quantum pop Artist. My passion is art, purpose is to be the voice 4 animals.
ABOUT
Launched in 2015, ADVOCARTSY is a leading contemporary art platform specializing in Iranian
contemporary art. In 2021, ADVOCARTSY relocated its exhibition space to West Hollywood.
Founded by lawyer-turned-art advocate Roshi Rahnama, ADVOCARTSY acts as an incubator for
emerging and established Iranian artists. ADVOCARTSY aims to transcend borders and connect
artists of Iranian origin to arts organizations, museums, foundations, and collectors in the
United States and worldwide. Advocartsy.com
MetaMural is a global marketplace for fine arts and NFTs. Seeking to bridge the gap between
the traditional art world and the quickly expanding realm of digital art, the platform elevates
the work of artists as well as the thoughtful curations of galleries and institutions in the
metaverse as a complement to physical spaces, all while enabling valuable digital asset
transfers and experiences to collectors and art audiences everywhere. Join us to connect,
create, and collaborate! Metamural.io
Mark Westall
Mark Westall is the Founder and Editor of FAD magazine Founder and co-publisher of Art of Conversation and founder of the platform @worldoffad
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