Hey you,
If youāve been reading Just One Thing for any length of time, you know I have a thing forĀ Vincent.
Because I love him so much, Iām always on the lookout for all things van Gogh. Or stan van Goghs. You know, the ones who acknowledge Vincentās true genius wasnāt driven by severe mental illness but crippled by it. That he paintedĀ inspiteĀ of his illness. Kindred spirits.
Like Lisbon-based artistĀ Alireza Karimi Moghaddam who recreates Vincentās artĀ in his own style that featuresā¦ Vincent.Ā
Born in Iran (unlike me), Alireza fell in love with Van Goghās life story and vibrant art as a teenager (like me). Inspired, he developed a Vincent character to show how van Goghās life was all about beauty and love. āvan Gogh and I have a deep friendship in my imaginationā, he says. (In my head, Vincent and I have known each other across countless lives, the protagonists of our very own Cloud Atlas.)Ā
Perhaps because Iām offended on Vincentās behalf every time I read a new think piece dissecting his life with opinions that shift with the fashion of the times, Alirezaās art makes me so happy.Ā
His Vincent character is how I imagine Vincent on his good days. Singular in his way of looking at the world, prolifically recreating it with the colours of life. Alirezaās adaptations are surreal, and he embeds Vincent in almost all of them.
My favourite, though, isĀ this Valentineās day postĀ on hisĀ Instagram.Ā
Iād like to think Vincent would find it funny too.