Written by: Kelli Fuqua Hart, Executive Editor | Photography by: Chris Redd, Chief Photographer
During an anniversary excursion to Savannah, my parents happened into a local art gallery just to kill some time. My mother immediately noticed a large canvas resting, drying on an easel. She directed my father toward it and made the comment, “This is so Kelli!”
My mother’s exclamation landed on the ears of an older gentleman who was positioned in a corner office. Presumably a shopkeep, the man, wearing khaki shorts and a paint-covered polo, made his way over to my parents asking, “Who is Kelli?”
I can only imagine this question opened up the floodgates for my mother, granting her the permission she needed (likely wanted) to go on and on and on about one of her girls of whom she’s never at a loss for kind words. The man enduring the overly zealous biography was world-famous artist Vincent Golshani.
Very, very long story short, I received a phone call some time in the midst of that meeting from Mr. Golshani. Afterwards, my parents left Savannah with a delivery slip for Hibiscus by the Pool, that coveted easel-displayed painting my mother claimed for me. Seven long-awaited days later, I cradled my new gift in my arms. Then an idea was born.
Vincent Golshani’s parents had a rare love for one another – a true and passionate love that they adorned onto Vincent and his siblings. Likewise, they encouraged and fostered Vincent’s own love and passion – that of art. His mother provided him all the materials necessary to express his art outward and eventually his talent blossomed into a living.
Attending school in London, Vincent realized a fascination with the world and his travels began. Realizing the many facets of life in various parts of the world, Vincent became inspired and ultimately opened up galleries in which to showcase his work all over the globe – one of them being a brick warehouse with bright blue awnings and tall red doors, located in the heart of Savannah’s Historic District.
Golden House Gallery is home to not only Vincent’s fine works of art, but pieces of furniture he has collected and refurbished to sell to customers fascinated by both the unique and unusual – much like his paintings. A tiny pink mask has become Vincent’s signature mark because, as the story goes, a pink mask was gifted to Vincent by Salvador Dali many years ago. Vincent paints this tiny pink mask onto the first versions of all of his paintings of which he then replicates, sans mask, up to another seven times. Although some paintings have been replicated, they are all still very much an original as each is hand painted by Golshani himself and signed.
I absolutely fell in love with my painting and, from that love, blossomed the idea for this fascinating project we are proud to reveal to you.
Just as Vincent was inspired by the world around him, his art inspired me and ultimately became the inspiration for seven local salons. Salon Bliss, Austin James Hair Studio, Fringe Hair Studio, The Proper Tease, EnVe, Textur and Planet Cosmo each sent a representative to flip through a hard-cover book of Vincent’s work, selecting a piece they would use as inspiration to style a model. This model would be a reflection of Vincent’s original artwork and photographed as a collection for publication.
Working with each salon was fun as I witnessed the creative juices flowing and pouring out of every one. The ideas were swirling before most representatives even left the room – a true testimony of just how in awe everyone is of Vincent’s brilliant work.
For weeks, the salons planned and prepped and did trial runs in an effort to perfect their masterpieces. This month, we are proud to present each model to you and we hope you appreciate the time, thought and creativity that went into each detail of these models, as well as, the magnificence of Vincent Golshani’s works of art and the passion they created in all of us.
