{"@context":"http://schema.org/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"herfeh-honarmand.com-blogposting-english_article-139885","url":"https://herfeh-honarmand.com/english-articles/a-portrait-of-hessam-rezaei-in-his-youth/","name":"A Portrait of Hessam Rezaei in His Youth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://s.herfeh-honarmand.com/u/2026/04/image-6-200x200.webp","name":"image (6)","width":200},"mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"herfeh-honarmand.com-webpage-english-articlesa-portrait-of-hessam-rezaei-in-his-youth"},"description":"This is Abyaneh\u2014I know it is. Although I have never personally been there, I have seen this dense arrangement of cube-like houses, stacked and rising upon one another, in films and photographs. My first encounter with the paintings of Hessam Rezaei was in Herfeh: Honarmand, Issue No. 7, published in the spring of 2004\u2014six years […]","author":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"herfeh-honarmand.com-organization-brand","url":"https://herfeh-honarmand.com","name":"\u062d\u0631\u0641\u0647: \u0647\u0646\u0631\u0645\u0646\u062f"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"herfeh-honarmand.com-organization-brand","url":"https://herfeh-honarmand.com","name":"\u062d\u0631\u0641\u0647: \u0647\u0646\u0631\u0645\u0646\u062f"},"commentCount":"0","datePublished":"2026-04-21 19:07:31","dateModified":"2026-04-21 15:37:32","keywords":["Iranian Contemporary Art"],"dateCreated":"2026-04-21 19:07:31","wordCount":0,"articleBody":"\nThis is Abyaneh\u2014I know it is. Although I have never personally been there, I have seen this dense arrangement of cube-like houses, stacked and rising upon one another, in films and photographs. My first encounter with the paintings of Hessam Rezaei was in Herfeh: Honarmand, Issue No. 7, published in the spring of 2004\u2014six years after the painter\u2019s death in 1998, at the age of 38.\n\n\n\nAmong the images printed in that issue, the Abyaneh paintings stayed with me, along with the thought that I would never again see any work by this young, prematurely lost artist. Abyaneh was a powerful image. I did not know why then, and I still do not fully know, but many times, when I heard the name Abyaneh, it was not the beautiful postcard-like images of its red earth that came to my mind, but these paintings. Something had fixed them in my memory\u2014perhaps the directness of their forms and the strength of their monochromatic color.\n\n\n\nYears passed. One morning in Shahrivar 1403 (September 2024), I entered SARAI Gallery. And this time, I also saw Hessam Rezaei himself: a self-portrait of a young man, with a well-formed, bony face and piercing green eyes staring at the viewer. Seeing the self-portrait gives rise to a feeling that is at once obvious and yet magical\u2014that the painter is there; not merely because of resemblance; no. The brushstrokes, and the tangible presence of the movement of paint (which is the movement of the painter\u2019s hand), preserve his body. This is the magic of the self-portrait: it shows both the artist\u2019s likeness and interpretation of himself, and something more tangible and immediate\u2014that he himself has painted himself. A trace of this lost \u201cself\u201d was there, looking at me.\n\n\n\nI knew that I was about to view a large number of works by Hessam Rezaei up close\u2014works that had been entrusted to the gallery by his family. Some of the paintings needed restoration; and many of the drawings and small color works were being kept in poor condition, at..."}{"@context":"http://schema.org/","@type":"WebSite","@id":"herfeh-honarmand.com-website-site","url":"https://herfeh-honarmand.com","name":"\u062d\u0631\u0641\u0647: \u0647\u0646\u0631\u0645\u0646\u062f","potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://herfeh-honarmand.com?s={search_term_string}","query-input":"required s=search_term_string"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"herfeh-honarmand.com-organization-brand","url":"https://herfeh-honarmand.com","name":"\u062d\u0631\u0641\u0647: \u0647\u0646\u0631\u0645\u0646\u062f","description":"\u0646\u0634\u0631\u06cc\u0647 \u0647\u0646\u0631\u0647\u0627\u06cc \u062a\u0635\u0648\u06cc\u0631\u06cc","sameAs":["https://www.instagram.com/herfeh.honarmand/","https://twitter.com/herfehhonarmand","https://t.me/herfeh_honarmand","https://www.youtube.com/@herfeh.honarmand","https://wa.me/+989936912755"]}}{"@context":"http://schema.org/","@type":"WebPage","@id":"herfeh-honarmand.com-webpage-english-articlesa-portrait-of-hessam-rezaei-in-his-youth","url":"https://herfeh-honarmand.com/english-articles/a-portrait-of-hessam-rezaei-in-his-youth/","name":"A Portrait of Hessam Rezaei in His Youth","about":"This is Abyaneh\u2014I know it is. Although I have never personally been there, I have seen this dense arrangement of cube-like houses, stacked and rising upon one another, in films and photographs. My first encounter with the paintings of Hessam Rezaei was in Herfeh: Honarmand, Issue No. 7, published in the spring of 2004\u2014six years […]","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"herfeh-honarmand.com-website-site","url":"https://herfeh-honarmand.com","name":"\u062d\u0631\u0641\u0647: \u0647\u0646\u0631\u0645\u0646\u062f"},"breadcrumb":{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","name":"\u062f\u0646\u0628\u0627\u0644\u0647 \u0622\u062f\u0631\u0633 \u0635\u0641\u062d\u0647 (\u0628\u0631\u062f\u06a9\u0631\u0627\u0645\u0628)","numberOfItems":3,"itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","name":"\u062d\u0631\u0641\u0647: \u0647\u0646\u0631\u0645\u0646\u062f","item":"https://herfeh-honarmand.com/","position":1},{"@type":"ListItem","name":"\u0646\u0648\u0634\u062a\u0647\u200c\u0647\u0627\u06cc \u0627\u0646\u06af\u0644\u06cc\u0633\u06cc","item":"https://herfeh-honarmand.com/english-articles/","position":2},{"@type":"ListItem","name":"A Portrait of Hessam Rezaei in His Youth","item":"https://herfeh-honarmand.com/english-articles/a-portrait-of-hessam-rezaei-in-his-youth/","position":3}]}}