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A1one
Born
Karan Rashad

1981 (age 42–43)
Tehran, Iran
Known forGraffiti
Street art
Underground art
Sculpture
Islamic graffiti
Social commentary
Design
Websitea1one.info

A1one (1981; pronounced /əˈloʊn/ alone; Persian: تنها, romanized: Tanhâ) is the pseudonym of Karan Reshad, an Iranian visual artist who pioneered graffiti and street art in Iran.[1] His career as a street artist began in his hometown Tehran.

Life and career

Born in 1981,[2] A1one grew up in Iran during a period of war and the Khatami reform era (1997–2005). A1one studied for 5 years at the Faculty of Art and Architecture in one of the Universities in Tehran. While still a student, he began painting graffiti on the walls of his campus, as a protest against students' conditions.[3] He was eventually expelled by the university's principal following a disagreement over religious restrictions.[4]

After being expelled from the university, his graffiti activities in the city of Tehran increased. A1one was the first person to start painting on the city walls. Therefore, his name can be interpreted as "Alone" or "First One".[5] A1one started painting walls in the late 1990s. He is the pioneer of the urban art scene in the Middle East. When he began, it was a time when nobody knew what graffiti was in his country. He had a very influential role in the rise of street art and stenciling within Iran.[6][7]

Already involved in urban arts in general, he met the rapper, Nima, in 2005, who told him everything about the graffiti culture, which triggered A1one's desire to grow in that direction. His first significant work was a painting under the Tehran-Karaj expressway called Searching for Friends.[8]

He started his street art project in 2003 and inspired his close friends at that time to also begin painting on the streets. Artists such as Elle, isba, K.T., and Magoi were the first people to join him in Tehran. With his public space art, he describes his view on Iranian society and puts himself regularly in danger.[8]

"When I decided to do my painting on walls I bought some spray cans – at that time we had just some very low-quality colors in Iran. My first work was a very simple work titled "searching for friends" painted on a wall right next to the Tehran-Karaj expressway late at night. It was a frightening night for me… The next morning I got three calls from friends who recognized my style of painting. They were shocked to see my work on a public wall. My first stencil was a Munch's Scream Print on Art University walls and after that, experimented with many techniques and methods, but I continue with stencils, graffiti, and sticker art."[9]

In 2007, he was invited to illustrate the cover of a book, Young and Defiant in Iran; a contemporary ethnographic work by Shahram Khosravi.[3] In 2008, he was invited to show his work at the annual Melbourne Stencil Festival, taking 40 pieces of work with him to his first trip in a non-dictatorship country, thus experimenting exhibiting his artwork without the fear of reprisals for the first time.[6]

By 2010, A1One was an established name within Tehran's youth culture and a key figure in the emergence of Iranian street art.[10]

Style

A1one Spray painted wall in Tehran 2006

A1one's art world is dynamic and made of many different styles, from portraits to calligraphy and funky characters which he mostly uses for his stickers. A1one's art combines Persian calligraphy and Western graffiti. His art has been documented by many photographers and featured in Art Asia Pacific Magazine.

The artist has been working on a distinctly Iranian style of calligraffiti, which is "a fusion of hip-hop graffiti and Persian typography".[11] His style is recognized across the Islamic graffiti world. He has made a handful of the greatest Style walls with Arabic letter graffiti since 2004.[12]

Selected exhibitions

Group shows (selected)

Solo shows

Publications

See also

References

  1. ^ "An introduction to graffiti and street art from Tehran through A1one a graffiti pioneer in his country". Retrieved 12 October 2009.
  2. ^ "A1ONE". www.artnet.com. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  3. ^ a b Khosravi, S, Precarious Lives: Waiting and Hope in Iran, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017, p. 178
  4. ^ Rebel Without a Crew: Street Artist A1one in Tehran Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Artcat.com, 21 July 2008
  5. ^ Khosravi, S., Precarious Lives: Waiting and Hope in Iran, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017, p. 179
  6. ^ a b Scott-Norman, Fiona (1 August 2008). "Graffiti cops a spray". Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  7. ^ Graffitti in Tehran: Instigating Political Change, Socialactive.wordpress.com, 16 February 2011
  8. ^ a b A1one: 1st generation Graffiti in Iran, Pingmap.jp, 19 January 2007
  9. ^ "A1one: 1st generation Graffiti in Iran". 19 January 2007. Archived from the original on 12 July 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  10. ^ Khosravi, S., "Graffiti in Tehran", Anthropology Now, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2013, pp 1-16
  11. ^ Khosravi, S, m Precarious Lives: Waiting and Hope in Iran, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017, p. 179
  12. ^ Vincent, Morgan (12 October 2009). "Le graffiti compte déjà de nombreuses formes. Il n'en est que plus intéressant quand il est développé dans des alphabets différents. Voici l'illustration avec l'alphabet Arabe". Retrieved 8 April 2015.


Further reading

External links

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