Solo Exhibition Mohamad Eskandari

THE YOUTHS BENEATH THE SUN - MOHAMAD ESKANDARI SOLO EXHIBITION

Opening | Saturday, SEPTEMBER 14, 2024 //3 - 8 pm

Exhibition | SEPTEMBER 14 - SEPTEMBER 24, 2024

 

Mohamad Eskandari was born in 22 September 1982 in an artistic family in Tehran. Graduating from high school, he entered the University of Art in Tehran, the most celebrated art university in Iran, where he studied painting from 2000 to 2005. He submitted his thesis on The Influences of the Islamic Revolution on Iranian Contemporary Painting in 2008.

Eskandari has held eight solo exhibitions, including at Daryabeygi Gallery (2000), Elahe Gallery (2004), Mah Art Gallery (2006), Tarrahan Azad Gallery (2009, 2010), and Aaran Gallery (2013, 2015, 2018). He has also participated in 44 group exhibitions, with some of the most prominent being the 3rd and 4th Tehran Biennials of Islamic World Painting in 2004 and 2006.

Mohamad Eskandari has also exhibited his work in several exhibitions in Europe and the United States. Furthermore, he has been in charge of the design and accomplishment of six mural paintings. Mohamad Eskandari has been a constant member of The Iranian Society of Painters (ISP) since 2006 and is currently working in his personal studio.

In 2011, Eskandari spent two months in Paris, participating in Residency Program at Cite Des Arts, as part of an ongoing collaboration between the Cite and Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts. In 2022, 2023 and 2024 participated independently for two months at the Cite des arts Paris. Between 2011 to 2013 Eskandari was an invited lecturer at Tehran’s University of Art, focusing on mural painting and holding painting workshops. 

Recently, his art has been featured in the book Rethinking Iran's Contemporary Art, edited by Hamid Keshmirshekan and Skira Publishing in England (2024). Additionally, his work was highlighted in the acclaimed book Iranian Contemporary Art, From the Street to the Studio by Talinn Grigor, published by Reaktion Books in the United States (2014).

Check the CV of Mohamad Eskandari

 

Mohammad Eskandari's art portrays figures often emblematic of his generation, embodying rebellion, protest, hope and dynamism. Later works introduce disillusioned characters.

Despite challenges, his heroes never yield; they convert streets into persistent activism hubs. Street art references, rooted in his Tehran mural projects, tie Eskandari to the streets, background to pivotal events. Urban spaces and symbols, combined with depictions of youth, narrate Iran's recent history in his paintings.

Images that encapsulate the contemporary history of Iran, whether derived from the artist's personal encounters or drawn from actual photographs, consistently appear in Eskandari's works. 

Thus, Eskandari's art engages with the present and the future, reflecting the hopes and aspirations embedded within Iranian society today, which will eventually become part of history.

- Extract from Rethinking the contemporary Art of Iran (Editions Skira)  p 153-154