Top 9 Most Famous Iranian Artists [Masters Of Art]

Various aspects influence artwork, including context, origin, and background. Art can beautify our world, make people feel certain ways, and inspire change. Artists provide creative, emotional, and intellectual insights into the world, challenging the status quo and impacting the masses.

To understand an artist, an art movement, or an artwork, you need to determine its background and origin. Different artists have different sources of inspiration and influence. Below are the famous Iranian artists:

1. Newsha Tavakolian

Newsha Tavakolian was born in 1981 and raised in Tehran. She's an Iranian documentary photographer and photojournalist. At the age of 16 years, Newsha took a 6-month course in photography.

After completing her studies, she became a professional photographer in the Iranian press. Newsha Tavakolian worked for a couple of companies:

- National Geographic

- Le Figaro

- The New York Times

- Time Magazine

The work of Tavakolian shifted from photojournalism to documentary photography and art. She focused on the social status of middle-class youth. Her series of portraits reveal the isolation and pressure facing most middle-class youth, especially in Tehran. Most of these youths had no hope for the future.

2. Parastou Forouhar

Parastou Forouhar was born back in 1962 in Tehran, Iran. She's a professional installation artist who lives in Frankfurt, Germany. Forouhar's artwork focuses on two major items: Islamic fundamentalism and politics in Iran.

Her work has been exhibited in various countries, including the United States, Russia, Germany, Turkey, Iran, and England. Forouhar has been featured in an array of art fairs:

- Pi artworks fair Istanbul

- Brodsky center fair

She was the daughter of a political activist, Parvaneh Forouhar.

Her parents were assassinated by the Iranian Intelligence service in 1998. Parvaneh Forouhar and her brother weren't allowed to talk about the death of their parents. Therefore, Forouhar started using her artwork to critique the government.

In 2012, she received the Sophie Von La Roche award in recognition for her artwork, which focused on major issues, such as cultural identity, gender, and displacement.

3. Y.Z. Kami

Y.Z Kami was born in 1956 in Iran. He's based in New York City, where he focuses on portrait expressive possibilities. Kami studied at UC Berkeley and Sorbonne in Paris. There are various sources of inspiration based on Kami's artwork:

- Egyptian funerary portraits

-Figure painting

- Philosophy to expound the relationship between visible and invisible issues

- 13th and 14th century sufi poetry

Kami is recognized for using oil paint in his art to achieve a dry and matte surface. To perfect this technique, he spent years experimenting with dry pigments, oils, and dust. Although Kami's portraits are popular due to their meditative qualities, he gained more attention for his political artwork.

4. Nazgol Ansarinia

Ansarinia is an interdisciplinary visual artist who was born in 1979 in Iran. She was raised in Tehran. In her artwork, she interrogates, dissects, and recasts everyday events, experiences, routines, and objects to determine their relationship with society.

Ansarinia's latest art projects, ranging across drawings, videos, installations, and sculptures, represent various ways of understanding the role and responsibility of architecture. She studied at the London College of Communication and California College of the Arts, where she pursued her master's degree.

5. Mohammed-Hossein Emad

Emad is a contemporary Iranian sculptor. He was born in the year 1957 in Arak, Iran. He creates unique and attractive sculptures using an imaginative approach. Emad invites his audience to look through the artwork and listen to its natural sounds.

His stay in Paris inspired him to reflect more on events in the modern era. Also, Emad's sculptures portray the interconnection between different forces. Some of these forces include the correlation between dark and light, day and night, light and weight, as well as empty and full.

6. Tala Madani

Tala Madani was born in 1981 in Tehran, Iran. Her artwork focuses on animations, drawings, and paintings. Madani studied BA degree in political science and visual arts at Oregon State University. Also, she pursued an MFA degree in painting at Yale University School of Art.

She's well-known for the cartoonish imagery in her paintings. Madani puts more emphasis on the relationship between an adult and a child. Most of her work gives satirical humor. Some of her work was included in the Whitney Museum of American Art.

7. Iman Afsarian

Iman Afsarian was born in 1974 in Tehran, Iran. He's a realistic painter in Iran. Afsarian is the artistic editor, director, and author of the Iranian art magazine, Herfeh: Honarmand.

Iman Afsarian pursued a bachelor's degree in painting at the Tehran University of Arts. He then proceeded and studied for a master's degree in illustrations in 2000. The main objective of Afsarian is to promote a realistic, figurative, and naturalistic style of painting.

His art collection can be found in various countries, including Austria, the United Kingdom, the United States, Iran, and Russia. This is because he participated in numerous exhibitions worldwide. Afsarian uses acrylic and oil to paint and other traditional painting methods.

8. Avish Khebrehzadeh

Khebrehzadeh was born in 1969 in Tehran, Iran. Despite being born in Iran, she lived in the United Kingdom, Madagascar, Italy, United States. Currently, she lives and works in Washington, D.C. Her travel history inspires our artwork.

Khebrehzadeh's work reflects a sense of agitation and dislocation due to her experience living in various countries. Her animation, paintings, and drawings are attached to her background. Khebrehzadeh studied photography at Corcoran College and painting at the Academia Di Belle Arti Di Roma.

9. Mehrdad Afsari

Mehrdad Afsari was born in the year 1977 in Khoy, Iran. Currently, he lives and works in Tehran. Afsari is a professional video artist, documentarian, and photographer. In addition, he's an active member of the Visual Arts Society in Iran.

Afsari pursued both B. A and MFA in photography at Tehran University of art. He has held 16 exhibitions to showcase his artwork. In addition, he participated in 80 exhibitions around the world. Some of the countries that Afsari visited during these exhibitions are the United States, Spain, China, Germany, Canada, France, etc.

Conclusion

Despite its challenging and unique sociopolitical position, Iran is among the most prolific countries when it comes to art. Above-listed are the top artists who have transformed artwork in Iran.