HOSSEIN VALAMANESH

b. 1949, Tehran, Iran.

Lives and works in Adelaide, Australia.

Hossein Valamanesh’s work is comprised of a myriad of elements to create enigmatic installations, sculptures and video works. With elemental substances, natural materials, and found objects, Valamanesh explores notions of an essential connection to place, the nature of being, and the ephemerality of existence.¹

Described as deceptively simple, disturbingly beautiful, enigmatic, Valamanesh’s work continually references the idea of a non-existent homeland: a place at once nowhere and everywhere. With connotations of longing, belonging, community, voyage, and identity, Valamanesh’s work is highly influenced by the writings of Rumi and his encounters with the world.²

“I think my art is about not separating elements such as aesthetics, content and form from each other. The interconnectedness of these elements in the work is important,” states Valamanesh. This assessment reads clearly in the artist’s works, which display a mix of visual languages and signifiers that speak to relationships between nature and culture, and the space between places with refinement. Through oblique and discernable references to both his homelands, Valamanesh communicates with ardor what it is to live forever precariously balanced between two places.³

Hossein Valamanesh was born in Tehran, Iran in 1949 and currently lives and works in Adelaide, South Australia. Valamanesh completed his education at the School of Fine Art in Tehran (1970) and the South Australian School of Art, Adelaide (1977).

Valamanesh has participated in many solo and group exhibitions including: Char Soo, Adelaide Film Festival, Samstag Museum, Adelaide (2015); Hossein Valamanesh: Selected works 1992-2013, Grey Noise Gallery, Dubia, UAE (2013); and Australia, Royal Academy of the Arts, London, England (2013). Valamanesh’s work is held in many significant collections in Australia including the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne and the Nationally Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

“Most works of art have within them the seed of an idea and the opportunity of exhibiting them may make it possible for these seeds to grow in the viewers mind with different interpretations. My original idea is only the beginning and I also follow the development of the work with interest. It is by our looking at the works that they realise their potential.”

(excerpt from Artist statement, 2005)

Thomas, Sarah. Hossein Valamanesh: A survey. Art Gallery of South Australia, 2001, pp. 8, 12.
Knights, Mary and Ian North. Hossein Valamanesh: Out of nothing. Wakefield Press: Kent Town SA, 2011, p. 11.
Severi, Hamid. “Valamanesh and translocality.” Broadsheet, 43, 2014, p. 54.

BIOGRAPHY

1949	Born in Tehran, Iran
1970	Graduated from School of Fine Art, Tehran
1973	Emigrated to Australia
1977	Graduated from South Australian School of Art, Adelaide
	currently lives and works in Adelaide, South Australia

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2017	Passing, Turner Gallery, Perth
2017	New Work, GAGPROJECTS, Adelaide
2017	Where do I come from?, Aaran Projects Tehran Iran Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne
2017	Angela & Hossein Valamanesh, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne
2016	Char Soo, Lawrence Wilson Gallery, University of Western Australia Char Soo, Carriageworks, Sydney
2015	Char Soo, Samstag Museum of Art, University of South Australia Assemblage; 1980 - 1985 Grey Noise Gallery, Dubai UAE Hossein and Angela Valamanesh, GAGPROJECTS
2014	Angela & Hossein Valamanesh, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne Binns + Valamanesh, Casula Powerhouse, Sydney Literary Notions, Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery
2013	Hossein & Angela Valamanesh, Breenspace, Sydney Breath, Rose Issa Project, London, United Kingdom Hossein Valamanesh: Selected works 1992-2013, Grey Noise Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2012	Hossein Valamanesh, Greenaway Art Gallery
2011	In My Mother's hands, GrantPirrie Gallery, Sydney
2010	Hossein Valamanesh, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide Time Travel, 1985-2009, Manning Regional Art Gallery
2009	Hossein Valamanesh, AMA Gallery, Helsinki, Finland NO LOVE LOST, GRANTPIRRIE Gallery, Sydney
2008	Hossein Valamanesh, Turner Gallery, Perth
2007	This will also pass, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
2006	Hossein Valamanesh, Sherman Galleries, Sydney
2005	Hossein Valamanesh, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
2004	Hossein Valamanesh and Angela Valamanesh, Sherman Galleries, Sydney
2003	Natural Selection, Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University, Canberra Bett Gallery, Hobart
2002	Tracing the Shadow: Hossein Valamanesh Recent Works, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney Travel Tales, Sherman Galleries Goodhope, Sydney Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
2001	Hossein Valamanesh: A Survey, Art Gallery of South Australia Hossein and Angela Valamanesh, Sherman Galleries Hargrave, Sydney
2000	Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
1999	Internal Travel, National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan Hossein Valamanesh, Sherman Galleries Goodhope, Sydney
1998	Hossein Valamanesh, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
1997	Tracing the Shadow, Art Front and Hillside Galleries, Tokyo
1996	Hossein Valamanesh, Sherman Galleries Goodhope, Sydney
1995	Hossein Valamanesh, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide Viewers and Audiences, Wollongong City Art Gallery, NSW
1994	The Lover Circles His Own Heart, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
1993	The Lover Circles His Own Heart, Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide Luba Bilu Gallery, Melbourne Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1991	Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin
1990	Luba Bilu Gallery, Melbourne Hossein Valamanesh, 1980-1990, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1988	McQuarrie Galleries, Sydney
1987	Bonython Meadmore Gallery, Adelaide
1986	Gryphon Gallery, Melbourne Walter Reid Art Centre, Rockhampton

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2017	Lettres Ouvertes, de la calligraphie au street art, L'Institut des Cultures d'Islam, Paris Where/Between Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Canada
2016	Where/between, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, Canada Images of Self Aaran Gallery Tehran, Iran
2015	Suspended, Aaran Gallery Tehran, Iran
2014	Jardins de bagatelle II, Galerie Tanit, Munich Art Dubai, GAGPROJECTS, Dubai WOOD: art design architecture, Jamfactory, Adelaide, (touring to: Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, QUT Art Museum, Kick Arts, Object: Australian Design Centre, NSW)
2013	Hossein and Angela Valamanesh, BREENSPACE, Sydney Heartland, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide Australia, Royal Academy of Arts, London
2012	Kochi Miziris Biennale, India On Collaboration, Breenspace, Sydney Rose Issa Project, Art Dubai, Dubai Drawing Room, Breenspace, Sydney
2011	Generations, Wollongong City Gallery, NSW
2009	Great Collections, Museums and Galleries of NSW, touring exhibition
2008	Handle with Care: 2008 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia Uneasy: Recent South Australian Art, Samstag Museum of Art, Adelaide Melbourne Art Fair Shadow Play, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Lake Macquarie, NSW Ephemeral, Aomori Contemporary Art Centre, Japan
2006	Found Out, Lake Macquarie Regional Art Gallery, Lake Macquarie, NSW Strange Cargo: Contemporary Art as a State of Encounter, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, NSW Prism: Contemporary Australian Art, Bridgestone Museum of Art, Tokyo Clemenger Contemporary Art Award, Ian Potter Centre, NGV Australia, Melbourne Photographic Portrait Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Earth Cry, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Lake Macquarie, NSW
2005	MCA Collection: New Acquisitions in Context, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney Mentor, Mentored, Contemporary Art Centre of SA, Adelaide Text Me, Sherman Galleries, Sydney
2004	One Of: Festivus 04, Sherman Galleries, Sydney Fire Dreaming, University Art Gallery, University of Sydney Skin, Salamanca Art Centre, Hobart
2003	Festivus, Sherman Galleries, Sydney A small private eye, Horsham Regional Gallery and touring
2002	2002: The Year in Art, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney Shape of Air, Plimsoll Gallery, Hobart Deeper Places, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Sydney BORDERPANIC, Performance Space, Sydney Nelson + Valamanesh, Sherman Galleries Hargrave Group Exhibition, Sherman Galleries Goodhope, Sydney
2001	the self, freespace Project Space, S.C.A.A., Wynyard Hermanns Art Award, Sherman Galleries Hargrave, travelling to Tamworth City Gallery, NSW; Tweed River Regional Gallery, NSW; Hermanns Melbourne Stores, VIC; Bendigo Art Gallery, VIC; Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, VIC; Wollongong City Gallery, NSW; New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, NSW; Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, NSW; Hazelhurst Regional Art Gallery & Arts Centre, NSW; Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, NSW A Century of Collecting 1901–2001, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney 7th NICAF: International Contemporary Art Festival 2001 Tokyo, Tokyo International Forum, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Orbit, University of South Australia Art Museum, Adelaide
2000	ARCO, Madrid, Spain Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial, Japan Chemistry: Art in South Australia 1990-2000, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide Defiling the Object, Substation Gallery, Singapore
1999-2000	The Rose Crossing, Brisbane City Art Gallery, Brisbane; Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, Holmes à Court Gallery, Perth, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery, Sydney
1999	1999 Hermanns Art Award, Melbourne Volume and Form, Singapore
1998	Something, Sherman Galleries Goodhope, Sydney Sixth Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne
1997	Australian Perspecta, Between Art & Nature, SH Ervin Gallery, 8th Asian Biennial, Bangladesh Other Stories, Five Australian Artists, Asialink exhibition
1994	Aussemblage!, Auckland City Art Gallery, NZ
1993	Fifth Australian Sculpture Triennial, Melbourne Inner Land, Gallery, Soko, Tokyo Identities : Art from Australia, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan
1989	Metro-Mania, Australia and Regions Art Exchange, Perth
1987	Painters & Sculptors, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane Australian Contemporary Art, Museum of Modern Art, Siatama, Japan
1985	Australian Perspecta, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1983	Survey of Recent South Australian Sculpture, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
1981	Centenary Exhibition, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

SELECTED AWARDS

2014	Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, Washington DC
2011	Awarded AM
2010	Green Room Awards, Set design in theatre, when the rain stops falling
2008	Skills & Development Award, Visual Arts Board, The Australia Council for the Arts Artist in Residence, Turner Galleries & Central TAFE, Perth
2006	Artist in Residence, Aomori, Japan Artist in Residence, ANU School of Art, Canberra
2005	Artist in Residence, Sydney Grammar School, NSW
2001	Artist in Residence, Stein am Rhein, Switzerland
1998	Australia Council Visual Arts/Crafts Fund Fellowship
1997	Project Grant Arts SA Grand Prize 8th Asian Biennial, Bangladesh
1991	Visual Arts/Crafts Board Fellowship Residency, Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin
1982	Visual Arts Board Grant, Australia Council

SELECTED COMMISSIONS

2015	Adelaide Film Festival, New Moving Image Commission
2011	Ginkgo Gate, Botanic Gardens, Adelaide, in collaboration with Angela Valamanesh
2008	When The Rain Stops Falling, stage design, Brink Productions, Adelaide Festival
2006	Here is love, editioned work on paper, Art Gallery of SA, Contemporary Collectors
2005	14 Pieces, in collaboration with Angela Valamanesh, North Terrace, Adelaide
2004	Unveiled, Australian Phenomics Facility, Australian National University, Canberra
1999	An Gorta Mor, Memorial to the Great Irish Famine, in collaboration with Angela Valamanesh, Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney
1996	Fault Line, Sculptural environment, Southbank, Melbourne
1994	You just sit here... Faret Tachikawa Art Project, Tokyo, Japan
1993	Journey, sculptural environment, Rookwood Necropolis, Sydney
1989	Knocking from the Inside, sculptural environment, ASER Complex, Adelaide

COLLECTIONS

Alice Springs Art Centre, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Aomori Contemporary Art Centre, Aomori, Japan, Artbank, City of Melville, WA, Deakin University Art Museum, Edith Cowan University, Gryphon Gallery, The University of Melbourne, Kadist Art Foundation, Paris, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, Parliament House, Canberra, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere, Finland, University of Queensland, Bribane, University of South Australia, Adelaide, University of Western Australia, Perth, Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery, NSW, Wesfarmers, WA

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