Happy Spring!

To all who enjoy spring, Happy Spring!
To all who celebrate their New Year with the beginning of Spring, Happy New Year!
To all who celebrate Nowruz, Happy Nowruz!
To my fellow Iranians, better days will come and we will celebrate a truly green Nowruz!

Happy Green 1390!



My Haft Sin, Chickpea Chateau, Austin, March 20th 2011,
Nowruz 1390

Daily Austin Happenings ...

South by Southwest is here in Austin. I have not gone to any of the events yet; for some reason I have not even passed through the downtown area in the past week. Of course my distance from SXSW has not discouraged me from blogging about it. Well, Austin has become weirder because of it and that makes me a non-participant fan. Aside from SXSW Austin is welcoming spring by little purple and white blossoms.

The sad art history news this week was the death of Leo Steinberg. He was a great art historian who was considered one of the three "Kings of Culturberg" along with Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg. His print collection (3200) is held at the Blanton Museum of Art under his name. Here is more on Steinberg.

Tonight is Chaharshanbe Suri. Traditionally Iranians celebrate Chaharshanbeh Suri on the last Tuesday night of the year by lighting bonfires. Like the past years, this Chaharshanbeh Suri provided yet another resistance opportunity for people in Iran. I salute their courage and wish us all a Green Charshanbe Suir.

Leo Steinberg

White Ceiling

There is something in the blank look of sadness; something that scares them,
it scares some away to a long walk to nowhere,
it makes some to turn the lights off,
and the others just close their eyes.

There is something in that sadness that scares them,
and makes me adore the white ceiling above my head;
it does not escape me,
it just stares back with a blank look of sadness.

White on White, Malevich, 1913