Paris Ackrill: ArtAttack’s Artist of the Week

ArtAttack is proud to present our latest ‘Artist of the Week’, Paris Ackrill. Paris holds a Masters in Anthropology with Development from the University of Edinburgh, and is currently furthering her practice studying for a Fine Art Masters at Chelsea College of Arts.  She is currently showing at the RA’s Summer Exhibition.

Artists of the week are selected by the ArtAttack team from the diverse and eclectic group of artist users on our app. To discover more of Paris’s work download the app here.

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ARTIST OF THE WEEK: CYRUS MAHBOUBIAN

ArtAttack is proud to present our latest ‘Artist of the Week’,  Cyrus Mahboubian. Artists of the week are selected by the ArtAttack team from the diverse and eclectic group of artist users on our app.

After the great success of BeyondBorders charity auction held at BlainSouthern on behalf of UNCIEF, we caught up with one of the events star artists – Cyrus Mahboubian. Many of you will have already discovered the powerful beauty of his work, his has been a great hit on the app.

How did you get into photography?

I was drawn to photography from a young age. I remember asking my parents for a camera when I was 9 or 10. Then in 2006, when I was 20, my father gave me a beautiful old camera. I loved the object and resolved to learn how to use it properly; it’s fully manual so you have to understand how to balance light correctly. A few months later I bought a polaroid camera and became obsessed with making polaroids. The excitement I felt making those first instant photos has never gone away. I started exhibiting in 2010 and since then it has been a steady process of making work, exhibiting and building connections. I don’t think photography is something you can you can rush; you need time for your work to develop.

What draws you to your subjects?

My process is intentionally slow, which is a reaction to how busy and connected we are today, so in general I’m drawn to quiet places. Often this takes me away from the city where the pace is slower and you can lose track of time. I want to evoke a timeless feeling in my work. I like photographing certain people I know rather than professional models because you build up a kind of intimacy over time and the photos are more honest. Last year I made a series of photographs in L.A. that I called ‘Mulholland’ because the work centred around one house on Mulholland Drive and the woman living there. Mulholland Drive runs for miles along the top of a mountain and I was struck by its very particular atmosphere. Those images were about capturing the mysterious aura of the place.

You were recently part of the Beyond Borders charity auction held at BlainSouthern. Can you tell us a bit about that?

‘Beyond Borders’ was an exhibition and auction in aid of UNICEF’s “Children of Syria” emergency appeal. We got donations from 20 contemporary artists including big names like Diana Al-Hadid, YZ Kami, Moshekwa Langa and Ali Banisadr. Sotheby’s UK chairman Harry Dalmeny conducted the auction. All 20 artworks sold and we raised over £70,000. Since everything was donated, 100% of proceeds will be passed on to UNICEF, who are on the ground in Syria distributing emergency supplies to vulnerable children. I was proud to be part of it.

Which photographers and artists working today most interest you? 

To me, photography doesn’t get better than the work Sally Mann made in the ’80s and early ’90s, which was published in the book ‘Immediate Family’. I love her dedication to the subject, her technique and the extremely intimate feeling present in the images. I was impressed by Richard Mosse’s ‘The Enclave’ when I saw it at Venice Biennale in 2013, and by Nick Brandt’s new series ‘Inherit the Dust’, which I saw a few weeks ago at Photo London. It’s really moving. 

What are you working on now? What is next?

I had a solo show in Paris last month and I currently have an exhibition at the 11th Fotografia Europea in Reggio Emilia; it’s called ‘Wanderlust’ and is part of the official circuit of the festival. As for what’s next, I am showing at the ArtAttack launch exhibition and I want to begin making my second moving-image work over the summer.

-Alex Lebus

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To see more of Cyrus’s work, visit his profile on ArtAttack App as well his exclusive Curated Collection on the ‘Curated Art’ page! GB link below or just search ‘ArtAttack – Share Sell Network’ on App Store:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/artattack-share-sell-network/id1051315058?mt=8

For more information on the artist:

http://www.mahboubian.com/

If you would like to be considered for ArtAttack’s ‘Artist of the Week,’ please email info@artattackapp.com to find out more about the submission process.

ANA CAROLINA RODRIGUES – ARTATTACK ARTIST OF THE WEEK

ArtAttack is proud to present our latest ‘Artist of the Week’, Ana Carolina Rodrigues. Artists of the week are selected by the ArtAttack team from the diverse and eclectic group of artist users on our app.

ArtAttack visited Portuguese artist Ana Carolina Rodrigues in her west London studio, to  discover more about her enigmatic, captivating sculptures and hear how artists and footballers may not be so different after all!

Louis-Nicolas Darbon – ArtAttack Artist of The Week

ArtAttack is proud to present our latest ‘Artist of the Week’, Louis-Nicolas Darbon. Artists of the week are selected by the ArtAttack team from the diverse and eclectic group of artist users on our app.

Parisian born, London-based artist, menswear & lifestyle blogger, Louis-Nicolas Darbon stands out from the crowd with a mixture of his two worlds of art & fashion colliding, sartorially influencing gentlemen around the globe.

I had the chance to talk to Louis about his career so far, and find out more about his artistic practise.

Ashley Bonser – ArtAttack Artist of The Week

ArtAttack is proud to present our latest ‘Artist of the Week’, Ashley Bonser. Artists of the week are selected by the ArtAttack team from the diverse and eclectic group of artist users on our app.

‘Convoluted II’, 30cm x 36cm, Collage, 2015, Convoluted series

Ashley Bonser is a visual artist who currently lives and works in Western Australia. She is a multidisciplinary artist, creating works with illustration, collage and print media. Her practise focuses on creating collage works that showcase the human body, demonstrating the connectivity human beings have with one another.  Her work aims to present her subjects as intertwined, to show our ability to empathise and connect with each other. Using found imagery from magazines, she interprets images of people into a singular form.

I had the chance to talk to Ashley about her career so far, and find out more about her artistic practise.

Sarvin Haghighi – ArtAttack Artist of The Week

ArtAttack is proud to present our first ‘Artist of the Week’, Sarvin Haghighi. Artists of the week are selected by the ArtAttack team from the diverse and eclectic group of artist users on our app.

Born in Iran in 1979 in the midst of the Iranian revolution, Sarvin Haghighi experienced both great joys and harsh challenges from an early age. The privilege and independence of her early childhood quickly gave way to war and oppression. To fulfill the human need for self-expression, Sarvin took to art as a young girl. Sarvin found her unique voice flowing intuitively through oils and canvas. While working at her easel Sarvin captures cherished childhood memories, honours the timeless traditions of her people, and comments on the social and cultural dimensions of women’s experiences in contemporary Middle Eastern society.

As an adult, Sarvin has become a global citizen, leaving Tehran for Dubai and eventually Chicago, where she is a proud member of the Zhou B Art community. While passion for her Persian roots provides continual inspiration for the young artist, it is her cross-cultural exposure that provides universal subtext to her work. From her beginning as a single censored voice, Sarvin Haghighi’s art now amplifies the powerful voices of many the world over who long for peace and freedom.

I had the chance to talk to Sarvin about her career so far, and find out more about her artistic practise.