Hormazd Narielwalla

Hormazd Narielwalla working in his art studio

Hormazd Narielwalla (born 1979) is a collage artist, and author, based in London, a PhD ^[1] from the London College of Fashion at the University of the Arts, London,.^[2] He has pioneered artwork that portrays abstract body forms and abstract designs by collages on discarded tailoring patterns of deceased clients of Savile Row tailors or on patterns obtained from archaic or contemporary tailors of the same genre. His unique style of work has attracted the attention of art circles, art magazines, and collectors, and his work exhibited in several cities and placed in the collections of art libraries and fashion institutes across the world. During his tenure at the Savile Row tailoring firm of Dege & Skinner, he noticed tailoring patterns of dead clients were destroyed as serving no further use. Narielwalla decided to collect these and infuse new life on these patterns, creating abstract art in an entirely new genre-a process of finding radical abstraction by collages on antique tailoring patters ^[3]

Gentleman's Gazette describes Narielwalla as "Artist, fashion illustrator and author."^[4] He is mentioned in and received reviews in art magazines and journals.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]}

The Crafts Council had commissioned his work for a national touring exhibit- Block Party (2011).^[14] Besides London, his work has been exhibited in Melbourne, Stockholm, Athens, and the Scope Art Fair, New York^[15] and at the India Art Fair in New Delhi.^[16]

The London's Artist Quarter provides details of Narielwalla's work with, and making mention of, Associations that recognize his artwork or have held exhibitions-the Crafts Council, Saatchi Art Gallery, Center of Possible Studies-Serpentine Gallery, Sheridan Design Agency, Beams Tokyo, Victoria and Albert Museum shop, Tiger of Sweden and other art circles and associations.^[17]

In a recent competition "The Saatchi Showdown Body Electric Show" held in 2014,^[18] Narielwalla's work was placed first from amongst several participants.

Narielwalla was Artist in Residence for Frieze 2014 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, the Churchill, London.^[19] The studio for onsite work was set up in the lobby of the hotel for the Frieze Week; guests and visitors were able to view him working on creating artwork on a copy of Sir Winston Churchill's suit patterns, provided from the archives of Henry Poole and Co.^[20]

Robert Elms at BBC London 94.9 interviewed Narielwalla on his program "Today's Listed Londoner," aired on 6 May 2013, describing him as a 'contemporary artist.'^[21]

In 2014, Hormazd announced a collection of limited edition prints from my Le Petit Echo de la Mode series were to be available from art publisher King and McGaw.^[22]

In March 2015, Vogue magazine writes: If fashion is art? this can be debated, but Narielwalla creates artwork on tailoring and sewing patterns that has drawn the attention of collectors and critics.^[23]

In October of this year, 2015, an exhibition, featuring 8 of his works, opens at the Fashion Museum, Bath and will go on from 24 October 2015 to 3 January 2016.^[24]

Collages by Hormazd, along with artwork by Stuart Semple Rob Ball, Dan Dickson and some others form the stage setting for Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle play, The Children's Monologue to be presented at the Royal Court Theater for its 2015 Anniversary Gala.^[25]

In their issue of 22 October 2015, Aesthetica Magazine describes Hormazd's artwork as new interpretation of tailoring patterns, as interesting abstract drawings of the human form and ahead of their time, anthropomorphic in origin and beautifully abstract in isolation.^[26]

Canvas A Blog by Saatchi Art, in their Art News wrote on Narielwalla: "Hormazd Narielwalla's artwork serves as an elegant reminder of the potential to make something wonderful when we re-imagine the familiar. His thoughtfully placed blocks of color magically revive obsolete bespoke paterns into brilliant contemporary works." ^[27]

In June of this year, 2016, Artlyst magazine describes Hormazd's work as art which is in its essence a meditation on the human condition, his unique collages reinterpret the human form, building on the legacy of Cubism.^[28] Writing on a series of Hormazd's artwork, Lost Gardens, on exhibit at the Southbank Center, London, Artlyst sees a pattern of reflection by the artist, of personal loss (an urban rose garden in his home town of Pune taken over for a building project) and the "current political destruction of community and culture." ^[29]

Narielwalla has published two books:

1. Dead Man's Patterns. Amazon.com in a review of his work on their website, describes this book as a Limited Edition Artist book, and a design story inspired by bespoke patterns belonging to deceased clients of Savile Row Tailors. The book has been acquired by collectors including the Rare British Modern Collection at the British Library.
2. The Savile Row Cutter (ISBN 978-1-903071-33-5) a fascinating biography of Master Cutter, and Chairman of the Savile Row tailors Dege and Skinner, Michael Skinner (Bene Factum Publishing Limited)^[30]

References