Portraits After Portraits: An Investigation of the Ways of "Appropriation" of Renaissance Portraits in the Paintings of Aydin Aghdashlou

Problem statement:

Aydin Aghdashlou He is one of the artists who has always looked at the past and the art of his predecessors to produce and create his artwork. Therefore, the main part of his artistic activities has been redrawing and testing himself on the paintings of previous artists. The subject of a part of Aghdashlou’s retrospective artistic activity is the subject of European art, especially the Europe of the Renaissance period. Although the reproduction of Renaissance portraits in Aghdashlou’s paintings has always been a subject of discussion, most of which are based on local and traditional views and concepts. This is while the postmodernist concept of “appropriation “ provides us with a completely new insight and a suitable perspective so that we can get a new reading of this artist’s working method. What are the most important functions of the “appropriation “of Renaissance portraits in Aghdashlou’s paintings?

This research aims to identify and explain some of the most important semantic aspects hidden in recalling and rereading these classic works while studying the Renaissance portraits of Aydin Aghdashlou and showing the connection between his painting style and the postmodern concept of “appropriation “.

This article employed a descriptive analytical method and used the concept of “appropriation” The data required for the research was collected by the library method and analyzed by the qualitative method.

The results of this research indicate that Aghdashlou’s Renaissance portraits can be classified under three main categories based on the applications of the “appropriation” method 1) Admiration of Renaissance portraits 2) Distortion of Renaissance portraits 3) Destruction and restoration of Renaissance portraits. Under the first category, Aydin Aghdashlou wrote down the predecessors and artists of the Renaissance by simulating and performing religion in the title of the work. In the second part, the manipulation of the Renaissance portraits has been done to change and transform the essence of the work slightly, move away from its reality, and create something more than a pure re-drawing. Under the third function, the works of Aydin Aghdashlou are placed, which have repeatedly reproduced the works of previous Renaissance artists.