Siah Armajani

Siavash Armajani known as Siah Armajani (1939-2020) is an installation artist, sculptor, architect and one of the pioneers of Public Art, who is known for his interdisciplinary approach to art. Siah Armajani's conceptual sculptures and projects are made in a display-scale or on a large scale in urban spaces, often inspired by Iranian and global art, and address a wide range of political and social issues.

Siah Armajani was born in Tehran. He learned art as a teenager and from the very beginning sought a modern and out-of-the-box look at art in his works. In the early 1950s, following the political currents of the country, he created collages referring to Iranian folk tales and the political and cultural concerns of the society. In 1960, with the encouragement of his father, he went to the United States due to the political repression in the society, where he studied philosophy, anthropology and mathematics.$$quote$$

After emigrating to the United States, Armajani continued his artistic activity and participated in important art events, including the Venice Biennial and the Whitney Biennial. Armajani's painting "Prayer" which included pieces of Persian poetry, was exhibited and purchased by the Walker Institute at the Biennial in the early years of his arrival in the United States. Also, Siah Aramjani’s "Building Culture" collection is one of the important works of this artist whose creation began in 1974 and gradually made him famous. He has always created modern art in new ways. He was one of the first artists in the United States to experience computer technology-based art.

The collection includes a wide range of geometric sculptures, prints and collages, installations, small-scale architectural models and large-scale urban projects. Armajani's interest in engineering and his belief in the importance of the connection between society and art led to the creation of works such as the “Fibonacci Discovery” Bridge and the “Limit” Bridge or the “Irene Hixon-Whitney” Bridge in Minneapolis, which connect the two parts of the city. Siah Armajani's public works blur the line between society and art and create a dynamic discourse based on Iranian cultural heritage, American architecture and Western philosophy in the urban space.

The design of the Atlanta Summer Olympics torch by this artist in 1996 and the arrangement of "Fallujah" in 2005 are among his most important artistic activities. Inspired by Picasso's Guernica, Fallujah refers to the American devastation during the Iraq war. The "Fallujah" arrangement can be considered the most political masterpiece of his works. The installation was a replica of a study for a large glass room with the same title, which was censored in the United States because of its critical look. "Seven Hospitality Rooms: A Room for the Deportees" is another Siah Armajani political work created years later in 2018 in response to the deaths of many immigrants from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan in Austria.

Exhibition of a number of Armajani works related to the early years of his arrival in the United States at the Meulensteen Gallery in 2011, the collection " Siah Armajani's works from the past to the present: Follow this line" in 2018 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and "A Bridge Changes Shape" in 2020 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art have been one of the most important solo performances of the Armajani in recent years. A number of the artist's works have been exhibited by the Rossi & Rossi Gallery in London at the Art Basel Hong Kong and the Abu Dhabi Art. Siah Armajani died in the United States in 2020 due to heart failure.