Tehran is a vibrant city full of life, culture, music and art. Every street corner grants the opportunity to explore what the city has to offer. This year’s Nowruz, or Persian New Year, was quite a celebration! The city of Tehran decorated itself with new artwork and installations.

Take a glimpse into the colorful Nowruz celebration! Picture credit to Real Iran.

An artist’s vision can be inspired by the many things they experience throughout life; yet, going back to their roots is a persistently strong theme in their art. The Edward Hopper House Art Center is a strong believer of that idea and advocates artists from diverse backgrounds.

The Center’s latest exhibition, “Where We Are Standing: Contemporary Women Artists From Iran”, focuses on three Iranian women’s art. A combination of various media, photographs, and paintings tell their personal story. Roya Farrasat, Golnar Adili and Shabnam Ghazi all experienced Iran through different eyes and use their art to express it.

Carole Perry, the curator for the exhibit, explains in an interview with the New York Times that she chose Farrasat, Adili and Ghazi for the “unexpected parallels” in their work.

The exhibition will run at the Edward Hopper House Art Center until April 24th.

Iranian art faces certain expectations from the global audience. Matteo Lonardi from the Guardian tells the narrative of Iranian artists who have emigrated from their homeland and deal day to day with dualism in their art. “On one hand, they want to make art speaking to universal issues. On the other, the market may expect their work to reflect a homeland where they no longer live.”

In this interesting article, Leonardi showcases the stories of Iranian artists and how they navigate a world in which the market expects their work to look a certain way. Nicky Nodjoumi, Shirin Neshat, Bizan Bassiri, Taravat Talepasand, Fereydoun Ave, Taraneh Hemami, Y Z Kami, Mitra Fabian, Babak Golkar and Amir H Fallah share their stories and how that influences their personal artistic vision (Featured below).

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“Iranian art is being collected by major institutions around the world and Mohammed Afkhami is one of the people crucial to making it happen. In this video, he gives us a tour of his own impressive collection…” The Guardian, 2016

The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art has a new exhibition and the lineup of artists is stunning: Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg, just to name a few…..

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Shahryar Hatami, Study for A Fall

The 10th edition of Contemporary Istanbul closed on Sunday 15th November 2015 surpassing expectation with the attendance of more than 84,000 foreign collectors and VIP’s, art professionals, academicians and museum groups and art lovers from all over the world. The success of this year is shown in the total value of exhibited works amounting to 63 million Euros of which 64% were sold. This year Contemporary Istanbul brought 102 galleries from 24 territories, 790 artists and welcomed 23 galleries that took part for the first time.

This year, Contemporary Istanbul had a special focus on Iranian art through presenting works selected and brought by four of Tehran’s leading independent art galleries and one independent artistic foundation; Aaran Gallery, Assar Art Gallery, Dastan’s Basement, Shirin Art Gallery and Lajevardi Foundation. The fair this year was also host to a special selection of Iranian Modern Art loaned from the outstanding Mobarqa family’s private collection.

While Tehran being home to a vibrant and exciting art scene and more Iranian galleries and institutions today take part in international events and worldwide cultural collaborations, Focus Contemporary Tehran aimed to offer a strong selection of Iranian exhibitors, each with their precise approach, presenting a diverse range of works by some of the country’s most important and celebrated artists.

Sources: Aran Gallery Newsletter – 11/5/2015; Contemporary Istanbul Website http://contemporaryistanbul.com/

Suicide – a recent work by Kambiz Derambakhsh
(source: Shahrvand daily newspaper)

Iran’s House of Cartoon has exhibited a selection of works by veteran artist and cartoonist Kambiz Derambakhsh. The event dubbed ’40 Years, 40 Cartoons’ showcases a selection of most successful works created by Derambakhsh over the past 40 years.

Born in 1942, Derambakhsh is a prominent cartoonist, graphic designer and illustrator, whose works are housed at many Iranian and international art centers and museums such as the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, the Basel Museum of Caricatures, the Hiroshima Museum of Japan, the Anti-War Museum of Yugoslavia, the Istanbul Museum of Cartoons, and the Warsaw Museum of Caricatures. Derambakhsh is known for his talent in finding obscure themes for his creations and has received many awards at international competitions of different countries, including Switzerland, Turkey, Brazil, Germany, Yugoslavia and Italy. He was also granted the French Ordre National du Merite for his lifetime achievements in visual arts in 2014. He has written and compiled a number of books, which have been published in Iran and Italy. In 2013, the Michel Lafont Publishing in France released a selection of works created by Derambakhsh over the past 35 years in the form of a book.

Iranian House of Cartoon is affiliated with Tehran Municipality, located at No. 44, Golnabi (ketabi) St., Shariati Ave., Tehran, Iran. The exhibition opened on October 28, 2015 and will run until November 9.

Source: Payvand News – 10/30/15

“Despite all the scarcities and problems that Iran faces, the country makes things happen. Even though many people see the country as an area of hardships, that is not entirely true, as there is new art evolving and developing in Tehran. Art professionals speak about Tehran and its art scene…..” 

– Courtesy: Hurriyet Daily News

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