Aram (Convertible Series)

Artist Monir Farmanfarmaian (Iranian, 1924-2019)

Date2015

DimensionsOverall - Configuration E: 77 × 74 1/2 × 1 1/4 in. (195.6 × 189.2 × 3.2 cm)
Individual Elements [6 elements total]: 37 1/2 × 27 1/2 × 1 1/4 in. (95.3 × 69.9 × 3.2 cm)

MediumMirror, reverse-glass painting, plaster on wood

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott

Object number

2018.15A-F

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 09

DescriptionAram is a wall-mounted mirror-mosaic work and is composed of hundreds of pieces of cut glass embedded in plaster. Bits of color are added by painting on the reverse-side of the glass with oil-paint. While the overall form of the work is geometric, the individually cut pieces are irregular and organic, further integrating the theme of the Persian garden with natural shapes found on flower petals, leaves, and branches. As directed by Monir, Aram can be reconfigured into 12 different arrangements on the wall.

Label TextComposed of hundreds of pieces of cut mirrored glass embedded in plaster, Aram blends the simple lines of modern abstraction with an intricate glass mosaic similar to the dazzling tile decoration of mosques and other public spaces in artist Monir Farmanfarmaian’s native Iran. While the geometric forms draw attention to the formal qualities of line and shape, Farmanfarmaian also plays with the effects of light and reflection that are inherent qualities of glass. Bits of color are added by painting on the reverse side of the glass with oil paint. While the overall form of the work is geometric, the individually cut pieces are irregular and organic, integrating the organization of the Persian garden with natural shapes found on flower petals, leaves, and branches. In her Convertible series, Farmanfarmaian creates wall-mounted installations that can be rearranged into different patterns. Aram can be reconfigured into 12 different compositions (see illustration). Aram, which means “calm” in Farsi (Persian), reveals the artist’s love of the garden and alludes to the space as one meant for introspection. This arrangement of the work also references the star-shaped fountain often found at the center of gardens laid out in the Persian style.Published ReferencesCorning Museum of Glass, New Glass Now: 40th-anniverary issue of New Glass Review, Corning, N.Y, Corning Museum of Glass, 2019, repr. col. p. 284.Exhibition HistoryNorfolk, VA, Chrysler Museum of Art, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian-Infinite Possibility: Mirror Works and Drawings, 1974-2014, March 16-July 30, 2017.

San Francisco, Haines Gallery, Monir Farmanfarmaian, Convertibles, October 27-December 23, 2016.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Suzanne Cotter, et al., Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian-Infinite Possibility: Mirror Works and Drawings, 1974-2014, Serravles, 2014.