Johnny Azari Composes Music for ILLUSIONS & MIRRORS Film: On View 11/13-25 as Part of Dior's Miss Dior Exposition

Johnny Azari, seasoned musician, poet, and activist was brought on to create the compositional landscape for the highly anticipated Dior commissioned film Illusions & Mirrors directed by artist Shirin Neshat starring Academy Award winning actress Natalie Portman and shot by Academy Award Nominee Darius Khondji.

This 12-minute long 'almost silent' video installation was brought to life by Mr. Azari's musical score, setting the scene for the beautiful imagery depicted throughout the black and white film. Illusions & Mirrors is set to be one of the featured art installations for Dior's Miss Dior Exposition at the Grand Palais from November 13th - 25th 2013 which will be accompanied by works from 14 other internationally celebrated female artists and designers.

"'Illusions & Mirrors'" came to me as a completely silent film and my job was to give it ears. Shirin Neshat's masterful images told an abstract story that I've felt too often in a literal way: is any of this real; who am I now, who have I been, and what will I be? The challenge of the piece was to not use music in an orthodox way, but rather write a tone poem. The mansion that Natalie Portman is lost in felt like a metaphor for one's mind. I tried to create those auditory moments in life that makes reality quite questionable." - Johnny Azari, composer and sound designer of Illusions & Mirrors.

Johnny Azari worked hand in hand with director and Iranian-American artist Shirin Neshat, world-renowned for her installations and photos bringing greatness to this experimental film and art installation. The full-length film will premiere at the Miss Dior Exposition and only be available as an art piece in the exhibition. Filmed in Neshat's characteristic, radical, mainly black-and-white style, Illusions & Mirrors traces the somnambulistic hallucinations of a young woman, played by Natalie Portman. Illusions & Mirrors is about the futile attempt of chasing a shadow that wanders through the dunes of an empty beach. When it finally comes to an encounter in a deserted house, the young woman experiences a disturbing surprise.

In addition to Illusions & Mirrors, Mr. Azari has shared the stage with acts including The New York Dolls, Kiss, Nouvelle Vague, and Sussan Deyhim. Over a decade of work has led him to release 2 LPS and 6 EP's, score feature films, co-write a play for Performa, create a handful of videos for YouTube, two of which (occupation blues | freedom glory) enjoyed viral success, and earn him attention from The New York Times, CNN, Huffington Post, Brooklyn Vegan, The New York Observer, and Fuse.

ILLUSIONS & MIRRORS

Shirin Neshat, USA/A 2013

Camera: Darius Khondji

Editor: Nariman Hamed

Music & Sound: Johnny Azari

With: Natalie Portman

Illusions & Mirrors Trailer

About the Miss Dior Exposition: For the first time in its history, the House of Dior's original scent Miss Dior and founding creation is the focus of a major exhibition. To pierce the mystery of this unique fragrance and draw inspiration from the ideal young woman who embodies it, Dior has invited fifteen women artists from around the world to find inspiration in their contemporary creations in Miss Dior. Each piece is displayed alongside the patrimonial Miss Dior reference that inspired it. The famous Miss Dior bow, the rose, the houndstooth check or the ravishing Natalie Portman, who currently embodies the spirit of the fragrance, provided a plethora of images and codes from which the artists could choose. Legendary dresses are also displayed throughout the exhibition, including the flamboyant red "Concerto" dress (1957) and the extremely popular "Bar Suit" (1947), as well as contemporary creations by Raf Simons, who adds a modern touch to the original "Miss Dior" dress and celebrates the eternal Dior Couture lines in a shimmering palette of colors.

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