TEHRAN – After two showings in Tehran and Shiraz, German sculptor and op artist Gunther Uecker’s exhibition “Tribute to Hafez” will move to the Isfahan Museum of Contemporary Art for a showcase, which will open on Thursday.

Several more works have also been added to the collection inspired by ghazals of Persian poet Hafez, curator Afshin Derambakhsh said in a press release published on Tuesday.

Uecker has created a series of 42 graphical works in which the ghazals are transformed into colors and the sound of the poems into written images. 

This method to translate spoken language into pictorial expressions has characterized the artist’s oeuvre since the 1970s. 

In 2016, Uecker first displayed his collection in Shiraz, where the Mausoleum of Hafez lies, and later took his collection to the Imam Ali (AS) Religious Arts Museum in Tehran.

The 88-year-old Uecker is a member of the ZERO movement, best known for his signature use of nails arranged into tactile, sculptural paintings.

Uecker’s oeuvre includes paintings, art objects and installations as well as stage designs and films. He is mainly interested in the eastern European avant-garde of the 1920s and 1930s, but he is likewise fascinated by Asian cultures and their ideas. 

His works can be seen in collections and at large fairs in both the West and the East. Uecker’s artistic creativity reached a climax in 2000 with the prayer room he designed for the rebuilt Reichstag building in Berlin.

The Isfahan exhibit will be on view unlit April 12.

Photo: German op artist Gunther Uecker delivers a speech at the Mausoleum of Hafez in Shiraz before opening his exhibit “Tribute to Hafez” on May 1, 2016. (IRNA/Reza Qaderi)

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