PRIVATE ART COLLECTION OF PROF. DR. PHIL. DAVOOD ROOSTAEI 1959 - 2023
THE FOUNDER OF CRYPTOREALISM
PETER FRANK
Art critic, curator and editor. He lives in Los Angeles, where he is co-editor of Fabrik Magazine. He began his career in his hometown of New York, where he wrote for The Village Voice and The SoHo Weekly News and organized exhibitions for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Alternative Museum. He is a former senior curator at the Riverside (CA) Art Museum and former editor of Visions Art Quarterly and THE Magazine Los Angeles, and has been an art critic for LA Weekly and Angeleno Magazine. He worked as a curator for Documenta, the Venice Biennale and many other national and international institutions. (Photo: Eric Minh Swenson)
By PETER FRANK, January 2023
HIDE THE PAINTING TO SHOW IT
Davood Roostaei, All In, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 in. © Davood Roostaei.
With the introduction of photography, the modern era of painting began in crisis: Where does painting end and where does the image begin? With the introduction of digital media, the modern era of painting ends in crisis: When does painting end? But both the beginning and the end are fictions: the picture has always been removed - and the painting doesn't stop. Immersed for two centuries in an existential forest of images, simultaneously escaping and embracing the real, painting and its followers have evolved from impressions to expressions, from abstractions to non-representationalities, from actions to appropriations, trying to have their color and them also to see. In this ongoing picturesque tumult Davood Roostaei set his sails; The painter, himself tossed back and forth on the waves of history - not just art history, but human history - has developed a method of showing and concealing both image and meaning, a double-sided or perhaps doubly profound approach , to present and de-represent things by exposing and at the same time concealing the figures and objects that have fallen on Roostaei's canvases in response to contemporary storms and philosophical conundra.
Roostaei calls this pigmented game of hide-and-seek “cryptorealism,” a term that is at once clear and concise. “Realism” itself encompasses many things, certainly in the context of fine art; and “Krypto” signals a reserved and mysterious attitude. It also seems to claim an affinity with current economic and meta-economic developments, but the artist coined the term over 30 years ago, long before the era of NFTs and blockchains, when "crypto" simply meant the act of hiding. Because that's what Roostaei has been doing for more than four decades - capturing his subjects in color and then disfiguring them with such force and thoroughness that he seemingly leaves behind strands and networks and cascades of pure color without reference - and not coincidentally without Brush is applied to the surface (Roostaei paints exclusively with his fingers). But in fact, these blankets of pigment are noticeably humming with the energy of the things they have swallowed. They have become what they devoured.
Davood Roostaei, Journeys, 2022, acrylic on canvas, 20 x 24 in. © Davood Roostaei.
And they have devoured a huge repertoire of images, particularly images of people and events from our chimeric, turbulent times. Buried beneath the pigment storms of Roostaei are depictions of entertainers and politicians, tyrants and liberators, philanthropists and people of deep influence, those who delight the world, those who horrify it, and those who, for better or for worse, destroy its spirit and make up their soul. Singers and actors lurk behind some of these beams; Mullahs and chancellors are veiled behind others. Roostaei captures and buries not the famous, but the impactful. There are also mythical fabulations that draw on world traditions, ancient symbols that manifest today's dramas, and almost reportorial presentations of the latest news. Roostaei's cryptorealism devours ideas and facts, individuals and global forces in swirls of color, conjuring up the exact opposite of black holes in their density of meaning, but showing a similarly infinite appetite for energy - and material and time.
Roostaei was born in Iran in 1959 and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Tehran in the late 1970s, until the Islamic Revolution upended Iranian creative life. Against the new order and as a pacifist against the war against Iraq, Roostaei turned to the openly political art form of graffiti - and was imprisoned for two years for his activities against the regime. Soon after his release, he emigrated to Germany and finally settled in Hamburg. German art at this time was dominated by neo-expressionism/the new savages; This expansive style, driven by impulse and commitment, suited Roostaei perfectly, and he quickly developed his own approach, simultaneously gestural and pictorial. As he developed his style, he was able to merge his infatuation with color with his fascination with modern life - especially when he gave up the brush and began painting with his fingers, a technique he relied on has been leaving ever since. His statement on cryptorealism soon followed. However, after a decade and a half, Roostaei realized that he had exhausted his dialogue with German art (and politics) and moved again in 2000, this time to Los Angeles.
Davood Roostaei, Justice At Bay, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 in. © Davood Roostaei.
If Europe has granted Roostaei political asylum, America has granted him intellectual and perceptual freedom; here his emptiness is or was his own. California has indulged Roostaei—by leaving him alone as well as by giving him attention. Its years of re-suggestion now give way to a recurring urge to reveal, communicate, claim, or reclaim an audience. It is no coincidence that Davood Roostaei's return comes at a moment of global upheaval and change. His art has dealt with such moments, and now, when the fate of people, of nationalities, of our species, hangs in so many different tails, a voice like Roostaei's finds its witnesses again.
Source: Whihehot Magazine
Postal address:
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V8W 1L8 World Cup | Whitehot Contemporary Art Magazine | Davood Roostaei: Hide image to show (whitehotmagazine.com)
Davood Roostaei was born in 1959 in Mal Ayer, Iran, southwest of Tehran. Roostaei studied at the Tehran Academy of Fine Arts in the late 1970s until the Islamic Revolution turned Iranian art life upside down. As an opponent of the new order and a pacifist of the war against Iraq, Roostaei turned to the overtly political art form of graffiti - and was imprisoned for two years under notoriously harsh conditions for anti-regime activities.
In 1984, shortly after his release, Roostaei received asylum in Germany and eventually settled in Hamburg. German art at this time was dominated by Neo-Expressionism, particularly Neue Wilde. This expansive, impulsive and committed style suited Roostaei perfectly, and he quickly developed his own approach, at once gestural and pictorial. By evolving his style, he managed to combine his infatuation with color with his fascination with modern life - especially from 1986, when he gave up the brush and began painting with his fingers, a technique he used for the rest maintained his career. In 1990, Roostaei described his artistic approach as "cryptorealism", thereby acknowledging the most important conceptual factor in his work: his seemingly abstract pigment explosions actually emerged from figural compositions, whose themes range from the mythical to the everyday, from the heroic to the comic, and These figural forms were then hidden under the pure color threads that were visible to us. Cryptorealism, derived from the Greek term "crypto" meaning hidden or secret, is a manifestation of a hidden meaning that is revealed only through a multi-layered imagery that requires the viewer's active participation to grasp.
After a decade and a half in Hamburg, during which he made a name for himself in artistic and social circles, Roostaei realized that he had exhausted his dialogue with German and European art (and politics) and moved again in 2000, this time to Los Angeles.
If Germany offered Roostaei political asylum, America offered him intellectual and perceptual freedom; here his emptiness was his own. California spoiled Roostaei by leaving him alone, but also by giving him attention.
However, post-COVID, Roostaei and his followers felt the need to win back his audience. Painting boldly and furiously, he gained new attention when cancer suddenly struck him in early 2023.
As he intended, Davood Roostaei left a legacy of power and intensity; and as he had hoped, his reintroduction begins where he left off, right in the creative cauldron of Los Angeles.
Peter Frank