144. ARMINEH NEGAHDARI: A SPACE BETWEEN BEING AND BECOMING.
"De quelle couleur est ton ciel aujourd’hui?", Fondation Louis Vuitton - PARIS.
Armineh Negahdari, À l'aube, à l'abri d'une fleur, 2026. Charcoal, pastel, and oil paint on cardboard. © Armineh Negahdari et Marcelle Alix, Paris Photo: © Fondation Louis Vuitton / David Bordes.
The way you touch the paper reminded me of a pool, of a surface of water which breaks - what does the surface of a work represent for you within your practice?
Drawing is a way of exploring an empty surface. Even in my sculptural work, I remain attentive to the surface. A flat frame in front of me feels like a territory of possibility, a place where what is not yet there can appear, non-being becomes being.
The description of drawing and writing meeting at certain moments - sounded fascinating - a point where one somehow takes over from the next and vice versa - please will you further express this notion of exchange within your creative process.
I often write things down, sometimes just a few words, sometimes sentences or poems I like. I occasionally return to them. There is a kind of certainty in words that images do not possess. Images seem to leave a path back for us, whereas words often do not; perhaps that is why I prefer drawing and images.
Not everything between me and my work can ever be fully understood, nor do I believe an artwork needs to be completely understood. Literature can bring us a little closer to it, poetry, for me, is the search for truth by way of a detour. But we never arrive at certainty. Certainty is an illusion.
Viewing the series within a single room, which are presented alongside the Alexander Calder exhibition, reminded me of entering a space of prayer. What is your feeling of being a part of that environment, and what have you learned from the work of Alexander Calder in viewing his work?
The first time I saw Calder’s work was as a teenager at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran. A sculpture was suspended from the ceiling in the center of the museum, and on the floor there was a work by Noriyuki Haraguchi, Oil Pool. The colourful planes of Calder’s sculpture, like a drawing in space, deeply fascinated me. These living surfaces and lines, and the sense of balance and movement, filled me with excitement. The last time was during the exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, where I was moved by all these wonders. It felt as if Calder was holding space itself in his hands, drawing directly within it.
Seeing you work, I was reminded of a sense of returning, of a rhythm which forms a consistent whole. What do you return to within yourself when you draw?
The question is, is this movement inward? This return into oneself — and its result for me is an image. Who can ever say with certainty what it is a return to? What matters is that the return exists. I prefer simply to witness it, in a way, it is a reconnection with the source, with what lies at the depths of things. Art allows us to move beneath the surface and enter that depth.
Observing you work, via film and also seeing the pieces in person, there is an active sense of spontaneity which allows for a real sense of perceived freedom - I was drawn to the tiny faces within the drawings, which support a quiet focus, are there reappearing characters which reemerge within the works?
Everything repeats itself, transforms, and sometimes fades into forgetting. I have never tried to fully understand what these bodies convey. I prefer to keep moving forward, following the path that opens before me. Whatever lies behind me remains behind me. It seems spontaneous, it’s rooted in experience, I often visualize things beforehand or have ideas in mind, but the work itself tends to lead me in a different direction. I prefer to follow where the work takes me. we must be both very honest and willing to forget the ego, to allow the works to guide.
Open Space #18 Armineh Negahdari, Fondation Louis Vuitton - Paris.
Until 30th August 2026.
With thanks to Pierre-Edouard Moutin.