Page 43 - AIT1118_E-Paper

Klangstof.
von • by Tishk Barzanji, London

www.tishkbarzanji.co.uk

The Kurdish illustrator Tishk Barzanji lives and works in

London. He was born and grew up in Iraq, however. He came

to Great Britain in 1997 to, initially, study physics at the univer-

sity in Loughborough in Central England. Yet, after his degree,

Barzanji went in a different direction. He changed to studying

art and registered at Richmond upon Thames College in

Twickenham near London. The new environment had a consid-

erable influence on Barzanji’s development. To this day, the

multi-facetted culture of London characterizes his works. It was

here that he also discovered his passion for architecture. In the

beginning, brutalism above all played a major role for him, not

least since he himself lived for a long time in a large concrete

settlement from the post-war era. As the other important influ-
ence, Barjanji lists the work by the Spanish architect Ricardo

Bofill: “I appreciate the way he uses space and the reference to

ancient history. But I am also influenced by the De Stijl

Movement, particularly by Mondrian, and by the colours of the

sculptor and painter Ken Price.” In the works by the illustrator,

the modern and the post-modern age, space and colour as well

as – not last – their dissolution merge. His intention is to tran-

scend boundaries, to newly construct rooms and to understand

the human interactions possible inside these spaces. With his

dreamy, pastel landscape, he in some cases gives a sombre sub-

text to these spaces. This is due to the fact that the people in

Barzanji’s images often appear to be lonely and lost. As his

base, the illustrator uses sketches and hand drawings that he

then elaborates on the computer. All the illustrations are avail-

able as art prints from Barzanji’s web shop.