George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames, one of the decisive figures of post-war American design. The focus of his broad oeuvre was on textile design: As head of the Herman Miller Company's textile division, Girard designed a multitude of textiles that reflect his love of festive colours and patterns. He favoured abstract and geometric forms, typically put together in bright constellations of colours. Alexander Girard's upholstery fabrics have lost none of their charm, and a range of classic Girard designs such as Quatrefoil, Names or Toostripe Orange are included in the Vitra and Maharam "Textiles of the 20th century" cushion collection. Having originally studied architecture, Girard made a name for himself over his long career in the fields of furniture, exhibition and interior design as well as in the graphic arts.
Morteza Zahedi
Born in 1978 , Rasht ,Iran
2002, B.A. in Painting , , Islamic Azad art & architechture university, Tehran
It is exactly ten years that I have been in this profession. Though I live and work in Iran I am satisfied with my current position. For here in Iran we have many limitations for an artist to be seen, acknowledged, to live artistically and professionally, especially on an international level. My work room is the very place I live in: a small 3 in 4 room at the third floor of an old apartment building downtown. It has two large 2 in 2 windows, one facing the north and the other south. The northern window is always shut and the other one opens into a large balcony which keeps my room bright enough during the day.
I was doing my military service at one of the army bases of Rasht, and since I was a painting graduate, I was used in the worst imaginable way in the section I had to service. I painted the walls and rooms of the commanders there. I was even ordered to paint and decorate all the seats of the base’s stadium with red and yellow…Meanwhile I was informed of having won the second prize and the golden pen in the International Belgrade Illustrating Exhibition and so would the president of the time award a number of young prize winners of Iran – me among them. I gleefully went to the commander’s office and told him all about it and asked for a short leave to attend the ceremony. He gave me a sarcastic look and said: “Ain’t there a bigger lie to tell me? Or may be the president himself has called to invite you?” He didn’t let me go. I escaped from the base the same day and attended the ceremony. That night, the ceremony was broadcasted for an hour on national channels while the cameras had long zoomed on me…
I Think, two types of artists: the diligent and the spontaneous. The artists of the first type start their daily work at a certain time and go on for certain hours per day; they have achieved a formula of their own and get their desired results by merely iterating that. But the second type can create a piece of art only through long pauses and in certain conditions. Quite the contrary, painting is not a daily routine for these artists and they are rather mentally involved with the process of artistic creation. I belong to the second type. Whenever I accept a new project my heart is filled with an odd fear of not being able to make something new. And then I blame myself of having knowingly got into such trouble. Hence I postpone the work for a while. Hang out, get back to my desk and draw for myself.
