RAHI REZVANI
The Iranian visual artist Rahi Rezvani (1978) doesn’t exhibit often. It is therefore very special that from 16th January, we are able to present a solo exhibition of him in our gallery, featuring a number of firsts: images that have never been seen on the wall before.
Rezvani is a gifted storyteller who speaks in powerful images. He works without compromise, authenticity is far more important to him than popularity. In his photographic work, Rezvani is always looking for a chemical reaction between him and the shutter. A way to put soul into his images. Stemming from his background as a fine art painter, he says he uses the camera as a sort of airbrush. Craftsmanship is an explicit part of his work: lighting and technical expertise bring him to his magical compositions, printed on heavy, matte photography paper. “I don’t believe in photography without print”, Rezvani states.
Rezvani combines his talents as a filmmaker and photographer in long-term collaborations with artists, collectives and companies in the realms of music, theatre and fashion. In addition to his pioneering work for the Nederlands Dans Theater, for which Rezvani has been producing all the photographs, campaigns, films and books since 2006, Noorderlicht | House of Photography is mainly showing his work for the music industry. Just as Corbijn is inexplicably linked to U2, Rezvani is linked to the Editors. After photographing the British band at the Tivoli temple of pop in Utrecht in 2014, he was given free rein with regards to all their photography, video clips and artwork. Rezvani’s design for the Editors’ album Violence was nominated for the Art Vinyl Awards 2018 in the category ‘best album cover’. We are also showing the short music video Prehension, made for the Dutch composer and pianist Joep Beving. Plus, you can see shoots that Rezvani has made for Wende, Anohni and Halina Reijn, among others.