M A N I J E H - Y A D E G A R

born Esfahan, Iran
1975
Diploma in Interior Design, University of North London
1976-77
Chelsea School of Art
1977-80
Camberwell School of Art, London - BA Fine Art, Painting
2001
Artist in Residence, Chretzeturm, Stein an Rhein, Switzerland

Collections

Deutsche Bank, London

"The paintings of Manijeh Yadegar are as simple as breathing, in the way that warm and cold densities of a narrow range of colours, pale ochres, soft greys, are set against each other in horizontal bands of paint. A mature artist working steadily in comparative seclusion since student days in the
nineteen-seventies at London Camberwell School of Art, Manijeh Yadegar suggests in all her work some kind of philosophical equilibrium but in a way that is quite free of the abstract calligraphy which this artist’s Iranian ancestry might well have developed as a subliminal influence and predisposition.

She does, however, in my view, share some ground with the great 20th century inventive genius, Mark Tobey, who did indeed explore abstract calligraphy from Sufic as well as from Japanese models but who also floated quite freely in some abstract stratosphere of his own devising. Like Tobey, Manijeh Yadegar is quite free of any stylistic or formal devices; her visual world has a characteristic serenity, a composure that is wholly personal to this artist.

These paintings have a contemplative beauty of their own; they also transmit light and, miraculously, a sensation of calm, but strong feeling. And feeling rather than sensation is what good art is about: feeling, and freedom from
nostalgia if we consider the best 20th - 21st century art from Mondrian to Matisse. Manijeh Yadegar’s paintings gently illuminate the present, the living, breathing, continual present, in no need of history or cultural alibis."

Bryan Robertson
Critic and Art Historian
Director Whitechapel Art Gallery, London,
1952 - 1970

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C7 - 2003 oil on canvas 37 x 42cm