By
Linda Ann Chomin
special writer
POP ARTIST Rez wins the hearts of chocolate lovers
everywhere with his canvases of giant chocolate bars, which express warm
feelings for his adopted American homeland.
Chocolate and Flowers," 25 brightly colored acrylic
paintings by Rez, are on exhibit through Tuesday, July 16 at Linda Hayman
Gallery in Farmington Hills.
Rez paints realistic replicas of Hershey's, Reese's and
Nestlé's chocolate bars because he believes they symbolize the American
way of life.
"Almond Joy is part of life in American culture.
It's a sign of prosperity and ultimate luxury," the Persian-born Rez
said in an interview from his Florida home.
Rez's paintings reveal a range of styles from realism
to impressionism, and expressionism, influenced by the colorfully packaged
candy of his past.
"When I was child, my father used to travel and
used to bring us candy as treats," Rez said. "It remains in the
back of your head, perhaps in the background."
"Pop artists are influenced by your environment,
background and culture," be added.
IN THE '60s, Warhol, Wassermann, Oldenburg and
Rauschenberg, influenced by soup cans, Coke bottles and Oreo cookies,
realistically depicted these symbols of American mass culture.
Pop artists played on mass media images, which had
become signatures for American products, not only in this country but
worldwide. Art critics named the movement created after mass media images,
Popular Image art, Cool art and, finally, Pop art.
Foreign countries recognized these products with
American images,
"Wildfire," by Rez, Is an expressionistic
painting featuring an explosion of bright red tulips that burst onto the
canvas, one
after the other, leading the viewer's eye upward. The
76- by 50-inch acrylic.
Coming from a Third World
country, everyone there wants to be doctor and engineer. They don't
encourage the arts.'
-
Persian-born Rez pop artist
associating them with symbols of
affluence and the American lifestyle. Visions of America danced in Rez's
head, fueled by red, blue and green memories of those packages.
When Rez came to this country "it was to go to school but it was very expensive to afford
tuition."
Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m.
to 8 p.m. Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Linda Hayman Gallery
is at 32500 Northwestern Highway, Farmington Hills. Call the gallery at
932-0080. |
Rez began drawing at age 8 but
soon realized that, in his country, an art career was unthinkable.
"Coming from a Third World
country, everyone there wants to be doctor and engineer," he said.
"They don't encourage the arts."
"In dictatorship, there is
rich and poor, no middle class," Rez said. "You want to
guarantee income."
In the USA, Rez studied
engineering. By 1984, he owned a large graphic arts company in Washington.
But art was still in the back of his head.
"In 1984, 1 decided I have
to do it now if I'm going to do it," he said. "Against
everyone's advice, I gave up the graphic arts business for painting."
Rez is now " living on some
of the money" he saved and painting.
"Krackel" is an exact
reproduction of the Hershey's candy bar, down to its silver foiled end
wrappings. Red dominates the picture plane of the packaging on this
American symbol known the world over. The acrylic candy bar is priced at
$3,200.
"Wildfire" is an
expressionistic painting of bright red and yellow tulips. From the lower
left, tulips burst onto the canvas in an explosion of color, leading the
viewer's eye upward. Virgin canvas dots the heart of the blooms as deep
violet, blue and green adds a subdued background in contrast The 76- by
50- inch canvas is priced at $5,600.
"I adore these artists,
Matisse, Rauschenberg. I'm very interested, how Matisse was so
persistent," Rez said. "Artists sometimes are ahead of their
time."
Rez'S WORK, "Milk and
Cookies," speaks of his feelings for his new homeland, "a land
of milk and cookies where all things are possible." Yellow dominates
the picture plane in this piece, which renders a glass of milk and Oreo
cookies against the red and white stripes and the stars of an American
flag.
"We decided to exhibit
Rez's work because it's really fun and easy to live with, something very
lighthearted. It gives you a happy feeling," said Linda Hayman,
gallery owner.
Rez's work ranges in size from
50 by 42 inches for "Chocolate Cherry Cake" to the 84- by
22-inch "Doublemint" (Diptych).
"Art is the ultimate
medium," Rez said. "Last year, I went to see a 100-year
retrospective of Van Gogh in Holland. In Van Gogh, you could see the
power."
"Art: it's political.
Dictators, they don't want artists to flourish because they can move
people."
____________
Photo captions:
Rez believes that
"Almond Joy" bars symbolize a "pad of
life In American culture. The 96- by 24-inch acrylic, a chocolate lover's
delight
"Wildfire,"
by Rez, Is
an expressionistic painting featuring an explosion of bright red tulips
that burst onto the canvas, one after the other, leading the viewer's eye
upward.
76 x 50-inch acrylic on canvas |
