{{short description|Iranian artist (born 1981)}} {{distinguish|A-One (graffiti artist)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}} {{BLP sources|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox artist | name = A1one | image = Alone in Tehran.jpg | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1981}} | birth_place = Tehran, Iran | field = Graffiti <br /> Street art <br /> Underground art <br /> Sculpture <br /> Islamic graffiti <br /> Social commentary<br /> Design | training = | website = {{URL|a1one.info}} | birth_name = Karan Rashad }}
'''A1one''' (1981; <small>pronounced</small> {{IPAc-en|ə|'|l|oʊ|n}} ''alone''; {{langx|fa|تنها|Tanhâ}}) is the pseudonym of '''Karan Reshad''', an Iranian visual artist who pioneered graffiti and street art in Iran.<ref name="fatcap">{{cite web|title=An introduction to graffiti and street art from Tehran through A1one a graffiti pioneer in his country|url=http://www.fatcap.com/article/iranian-graffiti.html|accessdate=12 October 2009|archive-date=5 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905214117/https://www.fatcap.com/article/iranian-graffiti.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> His career as a street artist began in his hometown Tehran.
== Life and career == Born in 1981,<ref>{{Cite web |title=A1ONE |url=https://www.artnet.com/artists/a1one/ |access-date=11 April 2024 |website=www.artnet.com}}</ref> A1one grew up in Iran during a period of war and the Khatami reform era (1997–2005). A1one studied for 5 years at the Faculty of Art and Architecture in one of the Universities in Tehran. While still a student, he began painting graffiti on the walls of his campus, as a protest against students' conditions.<ref name="Khosravi, S 2017, p. 178">Khosravi, S, ''Precarious Lives: Waiting and Hope in Iran,'' University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017, p. 178</ref> He was eventually expelled by the university's principal following a disagreement over religious restrictions.<ref name="artcat">[http://zine.artcat.com/2008/07/interview.php Rebel Without a Crew: Street Artist A1one in Tehran] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023521/http://zine.artcat.com/2008/07/interview.php |date=4 March 2016 }}, ''Artcat.com'', 21 July 2008</ref>
After being expelled from the university, his graffiti activities in the city of Tehran increased. A1one was the first person to start painting on the city walls. Therefore, his name can be interpreted as "Alone" or "First One".<ref>Khosravi, S., ''Precarious Lives: Waiting and Hope in Iran,'' University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017, p. 179</ref> A1one started painting walls in the late 1990s. He is the pioneer of the urban art scene in the Middle East. When he began, it was a time when nobody knew what graffiti was in his country. He had a very influential role in the rise of street art and stenciling within Iran.<ref name=theage>{{cite news|title=Graffiti cops a spray|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/07/31/1217097393985.html|date=1 August 2008|accessdate=8 April 2015|last=Scott-Norman|first=Fiona}}</ref><ref>[http://socialactive.wordpress.com/2011/02/16/graffitti-in-teheran-instigating-political-change/ Graffitti<!--sic--> in Tehran: Instigating Political Change], ''Socialactive.wordpress.com'', 16 February 2011</ref>
Already involved in urban arts in general, he met the rapper, Nima, in 2005, who told him everything about the graffiti culture, which triggered A1one's desire to grow in that direction. His first significant work was a painting under the Tehran-Karaj expressway called ''Searching for Friends''.<ref name="A1one first">[https://web.archive.org/web/20080712042707/http://pingmag.jp/2007/01/19/a1one-1st-generation-graffiti-in-iran/ A1one: 1st generation Graffiti in Iran], ''Pingmap.jp'', 19 January 2007</ref>
He started his street art project in 2003 and inspired his close friends at that time to also begin painting on the streets. Artists such as Elle, isba, K.T., and Magoi were the first people to join him in Tehran. With his public space art, he describes his view on Iranian society and puts himself regularly in danger.<ref name="A1one first" />
<blockquote>"When I decided to do my painting on walls I bought some spray cans – at that time we had just some very low-quality colors in Iran. My first work was a very simple work titled "searching for friends" painted on a wall right next to the Tehran-Karaj expressway late at night. It was a frightening night for me... The next morning I got three calls from friends who recognized my style of painting. They were shocked to see my work on a public wall. My first stencil was a Munch's Scream Print on Art University walls and after that, experimented with many techniques and methods, but I continue with stencils, graffiti, and sticker art."<ref name=pingmag>{{cite web|title=A1one: 1st generation Graffiti in Iran |url=http://pingmag.jp/2007/01/19/a1one-1st-generation-graffiti-in-iran/ |date=19 January 2007 |accessdate=8 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080712042707/http://pingmag.jp/2007/01/19/a1one-1st-generation-graffiti-in-iran/ |archivedate=12 July 2008 }}</ref></blockquote>
In 2007, he was invited to illustrate the cover of a book, ''Young and Defiant in Iran''; a contemporary ethnographic work by Shahram Khosravi.<ref name="Khosravi, S 2017, p. 178" /> In 2008, he was invited to show his work at the annual Melbourne Stencil Festival, taking 40 pieces of work with him to his first trip in a non-dictatorship country, thus experimenting exhibiting his artwork without the fear of reprisals for the first time.<ref name=theage />
By 2010, A1One was an established name within Tehran's youth culture and a key figure in the emergence of Iranian street art.<ref>Khosravi, S., "Graffiti in Tehran", ''Anthropology Now,'' Vol. 5, No. 1, 2013, pp 1-16</ref>
== Style == A1one's art world is dynamic and made of many different styles, from portraits to calligraphy and funky characters which he mostly uses for his stickers. A1one's art combines Persian calligraphy and Western graffiti. His art has been documented by many photographers and featured in Art Asia Pacific Magazine.
The artist has been working on a distinctly Iranian style of calligraffiti, which is "a fusion of hip-hop graffiti and Persian typography".<ref>Khosravi, S, m ''Precarious Lives: Waiting and Hope in Iran,'' University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017, p. 179</ref> His style is recognized across the Islamic graffiti world. He has made a handful of the greatest Style walls with Arabic letter graffiti since 2004.<ref name=fatcap2>{{cite news|title=Le graffiti compte déjà de nombreuses formes. Il n'en est que plus intéressant quand il est développé dans des alphabets différents. Voici l'illustration avec l'alphabet Arabe|url=http://www.fatcap.org/article/lettres-arabes.html|date=12 October 2009|accessdate=8 April 2015|first=Morgan|last=Vincent}}</ref>
== Selected exhibitions == === Group shows (selected) === * 2005 "Portrait and Expression", Behzad Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran * 2006 "Start Propaganda II", Los Angeles, USA * 2007 "Process Invisible", Street Level Gallery, Portland, USA * 2007 "Resist", La Condition Pablique, Roubaix, France * 2007 "Spray 2007", Mehrin Art Gallery, Tehran, IRAN * 2008 "Iranian Contemporary Artists Expo", Molavi Organization Hall, Tehran, IRAN * 2008 "Visual Slang", Henry Art Settlement, NY, USA * 2008 "400 ML", Paris, France * 2008 "Melbourne Stencil Festival 08", Yarra Sculpture Gallery, Melbourne, Australia * 2008 "Spray1387", Arete Gallery, Tehran, IRAN * 2008 12 Inch Art, Winnipeg Canada * 2008 Vinyl Killers, Portland, USA * 2009 Your Kid Can't Do this / Group show Touring Australia * 2009 Visual Slang III / New York * 2009 Urban Art Agenda / Melbourne / Brisbane, Australia * 2009 Brot And Kunst / Famous when Dead Gallery /Melbourne * 2009 Group Show / Seyhoun Art Gallery / Tehran * 2010 "Public Provocations", Carhartt Gallery – Weil am Rhein, Germany * 2015 " Urban Art Biennale 2015", Voelklingen, Germany * 2017 Signs of the Time, Gold Coast City Gallery, Australia
=== Solo shows === * 2005 "Alone / Pain Things", Seyhoun Art Gallery, Tehran, IRAN * 2006 "October 1385", Mehrin Art Gallery, Tehran, IRAN * 2007 "I am Not Political" (private Solo show), Kolahstudio, Tehran, IRAN * 2008 "Spray it to the nation", Mehrin Art Gallery, Tehran, IRAN * 2010 Ishq, Mathgoth Galerie, Paris, France * 2010 Solo Show, Seyhoun Gallery, Tehran, IRAN * 2013 The First Sign, Mathgoth Galerie, Paris, France * 2019 From another world, S.F. Gallery, Essen, Germany
== Publications == * 2002 Turn the Night / As Author and Translator / The most credible book about the story of Rock and heavy metal music in the Persian language / {{ISBN|964-7380-10-0}} / Mess Publications IRAN * 2007 Street Art and the War on Terror {{ISBN|978-0-9553398-8-2}} / Rebellion Books/ UK * 2008 Young and Defiant in Tehran {{ISBN|0-8122-4039-1}} /University of Pennsylvania Press (PENN) * 2008 Arabesque / Die Gestalten Verlag / {{ISBN|978-3-89955-206-5}} / Germany * 2008 Stencil Nation / {{ISBN|978-1-933149-22-6}} / ManicdPress USA * 2008 400 ml {{ISBN|978-2-85980-011-6}} / Kitchen93 * 2009 Stickers2 {{ISBN|978-3-89955-262-1}} / Die Gestalten verlag /Germany * 2009 The Ark {{ISBN|978-988-18-4701-0}} / Systems-Design Limited (IDN)/ HongKong * 2009 Urban IRAN {{ISBN|978-0-9799666-1-3}} /Markbatty Publisher/USA * 2010 Street Knowledge by King Adz {{ISBN|978-0007318698}} Collins UK/Overlook Press (US) * 2011 Graffiti 365 by Jayson Eddin {{ISBN|0810997444}} Abrams (1 October 2011) (US)
== See also == *Islamic graffiti *Tower 13
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
== Further reading == * Hamshahri /IRAN Please Paint on our walls * JUXTAPOZ ISSUE 97: FEBRUARY 2009 OUT NOW, Wednesday, 21 January 2009 * Underspray.org http://www.underspray.org/a1one.php * Art Asia Pacific No. 65 / Oct 2009
== External links == {{Commons category}} * [http://www.a1one.info/ Artist's Website] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110925120703/http://www.respectmag.com/2010/10/14/a1one-un-graffeur-iranien-paris-4402 Video Interview With The Artist 2010 in Paris] * [https://vimeo.com/44407185 CANAL+ Interview With The Artist 2012 in Paris]
Category:1981 births Category:Artists from Tehran Category:Iranian graffiti artists Category:Living people Category:Calligraffiti artists