The Meem Gallery in Dubai, a leading specialist in the Arab art world, will open a joint exhibition displaying the work of two of the Middle East’s most significant artists, Parviz Tanavoli and Abbas Kiarostami.

The exhibition, which will open on November 9, will feature 30 pieces by Tanavoli, Iran’s eminent sculptor – including Poet in Love, Poet Turning into Heech, Big Heech Lovers, Standing Heech 1 and 2, and Van Gogh’s Ear – and photographic works specially selected by celebrated filmmaker and photographer Kiarostami.

Parviz Tanavoli (b. 1937, Tehran) is one of Iran’s foremost artists, considered as the country’s first significant modern sculptor. A central figure in the formation of the Saqqakhaneh School – a neo-traditional style of art that derives inspiration from Iranian folk art and culture – Tanavoli has created works in bronze, ceramic, fiberglass and scrap metal.

Abbas Kiarostami (b. 1940, Tehran) is internationally acclaimed as Iran’s leading photographer and filmmaker. He is also a respected painter, illustrator and poet. Exhibitions of his work have been held in several countries in Europe, North America and Asia, while Kiarostami’s photographic work is held in international collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Museum of Modern Art in New York, LACMA in Los Angeles, and Centre Pompidou in Paris.
 
Meem Gallery will also hold a book launch for the retrospective monograph on Parviz Tanavoli in January 2010.

The publication, presented in both English and Arabic, features colour plates displaying a vast range of the artist’s work, and essays by Parviz Tanavoli, Kamran Diba, Siah Armajani, Dr. Alireza Sami-Azar, Dr. Shiva Balaghi, Dr. Gisela Fock, Tandis Tanavoli and Maryam Massoudi. – TradeArabia News Service