First London gallery dedicated to Iranian Art

(6 Apr 2018) LEADIN
The first UK gallery to deal exclusively in Iranian art has opened in London.
Iran's contemporary art market is reportedly outperforming that of any other Middle Eastern country, and is being seen in more markets around the world.
STORYLINE:
One of the first sights on entering the new CAMA (Contemporary and Modern Art) Gallery in London is a Union Jack.
Incongruous for a gallery dealing exclusively in Iranian art - but look closer and Farsi calligraphy can be seen as its base, intertwined with the red, white and blue lines atop.
The 2014 'Flag Series' by Fereydoon Omidi, which speaks of friendship and understanding between cultures, is symbolic of CAMA's approach.
Being the first gallery in the UK dealing exclusively in Iranian art, it aims to be a platform for Iranian artists to get their works consistently seen and sold abroad and for Western collectors to gain a deeper understanding of Iran than that which is regularly portrayed by Western media or politicians.
CAMA Co-founder Riley Frost says, the objective is to: "provide a platform for Iranian art. A legitimate platform in the West, where we are not just nit-picking bits here and there and taking the bits that fit into that Western aesthetic, we are very much looking to change the view that Western collectors have of Iranian art.
"A lot of the works that we have got here, we have behind me a work that is a flag with a very calligraphic base and a lot of works we are showing have quite strong Islamic content and that is not conducive to the wants and needs of the Western collector," Frost adds.
"That being said that is more so because Western collectors have been presented with quite an Orientalised notion of what Iranian art is, what Middle Eastern art is and what the Middle East more broadly is."
CAMA's inaugural exhibition, 'Sensations', shows the works of 19 Iranian artists. It includes young artists, such as the highly sought after Bita Vakili, and established artists, for instance, Mostafa Nourbakhsh.
It wants to lead the expansion of Iran's art industry, and is looking to reach other Western locations, such as Los Angeles, Washington DC and Toronto, in the next 12 to 18 months.
And Frost believes there will be a further opening of perspectives to Iranian art in Western society in the next 10 to 15 years.
Currently, Iranian art is reportedly outperforming other Middle Eastern nations' works. Last year it made 60 percent of the revenue at Sotheby's Middle Eastern art auction.
However, the current political climate does pose logistical issues. The Trump Administration has pushed forward travel restrictions on Iranians to the US. None of the artists featured in 'Sensations' could get visas to travel to the UK for the opening.
And there remain the restrictions from their own government on what Iranian artists can speak about and portray in their works.
As Frost notes: "The great thing about Iranian art and probably the most key thing I am keen to get across is that Iranian art is great because it is bounded and a lot of Iranian artists would rather their work was not so heavily censored.
"But there's a cliche that pressure creates diamonds, and I feel like with Iranian art that is indicative of the wider scene.
"If you're forced to work within a box you are really forced to think about what you are doing rather than just sell it to a collector."
It's a view shared by Middle Eastern art expert Janet Rady. She says that censorship forces the artists to use more allusion in their work, ultimately making more attractive what is already a highly developed scene.

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