“Heech” literally meaning “nothing” in Persian can also be understood as the void, the space to be filled by creation and creativity. This work is in homage to Parviz Tanavoli. His work, which II saw regularly growing up in Tehran has been an enormous inspiration in my own artwork and understanding of calligraphy.
The work of Tanavoli has been enormously influential on my artwork and viewpoint, and a version of this sculptural work perhaps more than any other single work has informed my own understanding of calligraphy. I show here Tanavoli’s sculpture of “Heech” and my own humble homage to his work.
Many of his works are in the collection of the Grey Art Gallery at NYU. Their website says of this work:
In his sculpture entitled Heech, Tanavoli translates Persian calligraphy into three-dimensional form. Although the Persian word heech means “nothing,” the work is not meant to express despair or emptiness. Instead, for Tanavoli, the heech might represent creativity itself the void filled by the artist’s imagination.1 Tanavoli was a close friend and advisor to Abby Grey, who avidly collected his work. Her generous gift of modern Asian and Middle Eastern art works, along with an endowment, to New York University led to the founding of the Grey Art Gallery, which first opened its doors in 1975.
1. Paul Sloman, ed., Contemporary Art in the Middle East (London: Black Dog Publishing, 2009), 88.