Farhad Moshiri
Farhad Moshiri | Iran | Magic white horse with gold saddle 2008 | Synthetic polymer paint, crystal, goldleaf, glitter mounted on board | 180 x 180cm | The MAC Collection, Dubai | Image courtesy: The artist and The Third Line
Shiraz, Iran
Lives and works in Tehran, Iran
Farhad Moshiri is one of Iran’s most internationally visible artists, due in part to his deft, humorous and visually seductive examinations of popular culture and the modern world. Using a highly refined pop aesthetic, Moshiri conjures candy-hued visions of commodity-driven contemporary society, displacing common representations of Iran as a place of austerity and violence. Moshiri’s paintings are richly decorative and increasingly textured, incorporating Swarovski crystals, beads, sequins, pearls, and embroidery into their surfaces. For his recent ‘Candy store’ series, featured in APT6, Moshiri has used cake-decorating tools to create elaborate, stippled patterns over painted scenes. Ambivalence, parody and play are part and parcel of Moshiri’s visual language, which, while drawing heavily on the vernacular imagery of modern Iran, is also steeped in the visual traditions of Persian culture.
Exhibitions (solo): The Third Line, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2009, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, Belgium, 2008; Daneyal Mahmood Gallery, New York City, United States, 2007. Exhibitions (group): Singapore Biennale, Singapore, 2008; Sharjah Biennial, United Arab Emirates, 2003; ‘Iranian Pool’, Rooseum Center for Contemporary Art, Malmö, Sweden, 2003.
