Farrokh Nadimi, known as Max, is 74 and has painted all his life. A Lifetime of Looking opens on Thursday in Bushey, for residents and invited guests.

A 74-year-old Bushey man who has been painting, drawing, sculpting and making things for most of his life is about to show the results in public for the first time. The exhibition opens on Thursday afternoon, which is 24 September, at the later living community where he lives.

Farrokh Nadimi, known as Max, was born in Iran and came to the UK in the 1970s to study, later training in industrial and product design. He has kept painting ever since. Until now, according to Peabody, which runs the community, almost none of it has left the house.

“He has continued painting, drawing, sculpting and making throughout his life, but until now much of his work has stayed at home or been shared only with family and friends,” Leo Tarring, the organisation’s public relations manager, told the Post. “The idea for the exhibition came about after the manager of the later living community saw his work and encouraged him to share it more widely.”

The show is called A Lifetime of Looking, which is a fair description of the work. Peabody sent three photographs of paintings hanging in his home, and the striking thing about them is how little they look like paintings. Peabody describes them as “incredibly detailed paintings that could almost be mistaken for photographs”, and the pictures bear that out.

A framed portrait of a young child with dark curly hair, in a blue and white striped top, looking over one shoulder against a soft brown ground.
A framed portrait of a young child in a blue and white striped top, one of the works hanging in his home. Photo: supplied by Peabody

The largest of the three is an oil of two children at the edge of a pond, one standing barefoot in the shallows holding a stick, the other sitting on a stone ledge with their back turned, willow and dense summer green behind them. It is signed Nadimi in yellow at the bottom right and dated 2012. The third is a big monochrome canvas of a woman standing barefoot on a terrace, wrapped in a pale spotted shawl over a patterned skirt, her shadow thrown across the paving towards the viewer.

A large black and white painting of a woman standing barefoot on a terrace, wrapped in a pale spotted shawl over a patterned skirt, with a long shadow across the paving.
A monochrome canvas of a woman in a spotted shawl, her shadow across the paving, hanging on the wall of his flat. Photo: supplied by Peabody

What is happening on Thursday

Peabody says the exhibition will “bring together a substantial collection of his work” and that “there’ll be a chance to chat to Max”. The organisation’s chair and other guests are expected to attend.

The launch itself is not open to the public. “The initial launch on Thursday is only for residents of the later living community and invited guests, but we may extend this to local people for future events,” Mr Tarring told the Post on Tuesday. Peabody has also said it will send quotes from Max and from the manager who encouraged him to show the work, along with photographs from the day, at the end of the week. We will add them here when they arrive.

Key facts panel: Farrokh Nadimi, known as Max, 74, born in Iran, came to the UK in the 1970s to study and trained in industrial and product design; his first ever public solo exhibition opens on the afternoon of Thursday 24 September at his Peabody later living community in Bushey, for residents and invited guests only.
Everything Peabody has told us about the exhibition so far.
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What it means for you

If you were thinking of going along on Thursday, you cannot: the launch is for residents of the community and invited guests. The one to watch for is what comes after it, because Peabody says it may open later events to local people. Peabody has still not named the Bushey community or given an address or a start time, and we are not going to guess at an address it has not given. Anyone who wants to be told when the work goes on show more widely should ask Peabody through peabody.org.uk, and we will add anything confirmed here.

What is worth saying without waiting for any of that: a man who has made work all his life is showing it publicly for the first time at 74, because a scheme manager looked at what was on his walls and told him other people should see it. That is a small thing to do and it is the reason the exhibition exists.

For other things happening locally, see our guide to things to do in Borehamwood and the rest of our Bushey coverage.

Are you a Bushey club, school or organisation with something to tell people about? Email us at hello@borehamwoodpost.co.uk.