Untitled (89D07) (1989)

Shirazeh Houshiary

mixed media on paper

Prints and Drawings Department, British Museum, London

Classification:

Drawing and Watercolour

Materials:

Mixed media, Paper

Physical Object Description:

Untitled; abstract design comprising a flame(?) and crescent moon shapes. 1989 Mixed media; framed. Inscribed and dated: "Shirazeh Houshiary 1989".

Dimensions:

75.8 x 57 cm

Accession Number:

1992,1003.143

Credit:

Presented by Contemporary Art Society, 1992

Scheme:

Historic Purchase by Purchaser (1914-2008)

Ownership history:

Purchased from the Lisson Gallery by Adrian Ward-Jackson (1950-1991) for the Contemporary Art Society, 4 May 1989; presented to the Prints and Drawings Department, British Museum, London, June 1992

Relationship:

Adrian Alexander Ward-Jackson Lisson Gallery, London Prints and Drawings Department, British Museum, London

Houshiary has used crystalline forms with references to mercury and molten substances to evoke the transformation of matter into energy and light: "the medium of drawing is an alchemical vessel for the act of transmutation into another substance". The sculptures of 1989 to which the series of drawn works are related incorporate copper, coal, crystal quartz and molten solder and bear titles like 'Heat', 'The Well of Molten Metal', 'The Pole of Sphere' and 'Difference of Light'.

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