Nima BEHNOUD

“I have kept a secret during these years when NIMANY Clothing line was growing. A personal secret that allow me to think without the bounderies of business world created by the expansion of NIMANY. The Secret was an art studio in the industrial section of Brooklyn. A secluded location where I could express myself freely and recreate that very first organic artistic experience over and over again. I worked there on weekends and nights and created art pieces on canvas and paper, using acrylic paints, silk screens and other painting methods. I rescued my sanity and mind by building my own refuge. My very personal safe-house. I silkscreen old news- paper ads, bra ads, shampoo ads, to calligraphic practices and collages of writings. I paint the very first images of the Persian Angels. I silk screen Dr. Mosadegh because I think he really cared and I see that in his eyes. This was my escape from the bells and whistles of a full fledge clothing line. In New York City, a busy city that is a marriage of Business and Art, you always need to step back or even escape to your very precious and pri- vate roots and keep a personal art practice to keep your mind fresh and safe from the everyday race. Today i would like to open the doors to the public for the first time”. —Nima Behnoud Winter of 2011

Nima Behnoud as an artist always kept his studio practice of working on the two- dimensional stretch of the canvas and paper surface. At times the works translated into design on clothing, at times they just continued to draw the trajectory of his practice of art that he kept as a private endeavor. Now in a reverse movement for the first time the original canvases, his drawings and paintings that were the inspiration source for his clothing line will be made available for public viewing. These Studio Art pieces have never been viewed or showcased. Since NIMANY, the clothing line has entered into a full scope clothing label , the business aspect has increased overtime. Nima kept his Studio Art experimentation a very personal practice to escape from the everyday busi- ness world of NIMANY and to develop a creative outlet.

The story behind the NIMANY line

NIMANY started when as teenagers Nima and his friends would take Levis Jeans and other garments and draw, write and alter them. Their base material were obtained in the black market, thus making it harder and more expensive to continue such experiments. This was, just as now, a time of social and political turmoil in Iran and the masses, especially the youth, had very few outlets for expression and recreation. Time passed and In 1994 he left Iran for San Francisco and then to New York City where it all happened again. He began an experiment that proved to be a key element for his future designs. This was the silk screen printing of Persian mornaments and stamps onto stretched canvases and drawing on them. Yet he found the canvas on a stretcher limiting, he seeked a more organic relationship to exposure and expe- rience of his art, a wider audience and bringing his art into peopleʼs daily life. Revival of an old hobby, printing and drawing onto T-shirts proved to be a solution for him to make his art and integral part of everyday life and changing the way art is experienced and appreciated. Today NIMANY is being sold in over 25 countries and gained critical acclaim by being worn by celebrities such as Heidi Klum, Nicky Hilton, Jim Carrey and Kevin Spacey and appearing in publications in- cluding Vogue, Maxims and Washington Times.