REZA DERAKSHANI
Painter, musician and performance artist Reza Derakshani was born in Sangsar, in the northeast of Iran. He grew up in a great black tent on the top of a mountain, among horses and fields of blue and yellow wild flowers. Reza moved from the study of constellations of light made by moonlight shining through tiny holes in the tent to the study of mathematics in high school, and visual arts in Tehran and the U.S.
The long and circuitous road of Derakshani’s artistic and geographic migration eventually found him in New York City, where he made a home and worked for sixteen years. He later moved to Italy, eventually returning to Tehran for seven years before leaving his troubled homeland once again in 2010.
His first solo show at the age of nineteen was held at the renowned Ghandriz Art Gallery in Tehran. Following this auspicious debut, he participated in many group and solo exhibits at other leading art galleries. His work has been widely exhibited and collected internationally.
Derakshani’s passion for beauty and his nuanced perception of the light and dark of the world has found expression in many different forms, from music, graphic design, book illustration, film animation and calligraphy to studies in traditional and western classical visual arts. Yet it is within contemporary painting that he has experienced true liberation and fulfillment as an artist. The challenging techniques, innovation and mental stimulation inherent to contemporary art have led him to create a meditative solitude that results in pure freedom of self-expression. Reza’s work, known for its diversity and originality, has gained recognition for its fearless exploration of form and style, and the skill and vision necessary to merge an unbending tradition with a wild contemporary spirit.
A vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and performer, Derakshani does not limit his musical journey to giving concerts, but joins his music with his visual art. Reza’s music serves as a compliment to his art at many of his openings, in the form of performance that calls to mind painting with sounds.
Reza Derakshani is known both in the Middle East and in the West as one of the most significant contemporary Iranian artists. His work features in many public art collections including The British Museum, London; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art; The Russian Museum in St Petersburg, Russia and the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Germany. In addition, the artist has been the subject of two solo exhibitions in 2016 at The State Russian Museum in St Petersburg, Russia and at the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Germany. Derakshani also performed as a musician in numerous museums and festivals such as the Brooklyn Museum and the Montreux Jazz Festival among others. He currently lives and works in Istanbul, Turkey.
Works Available:
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS (SELECTION)
British Museum, London, UK
Metropolitan Museum, New York, USA
Russian Museum, St Petersburg, Russia
Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Germany
Contemporary Museum of Art, Tehran, Iran
Passargad Museum, Tehran Iran
EDUCATION
1978
Pasadena School of Art, USA
1976
University of Tehran, Iran
SOLO SHOWS (SELECTION)
2017
Reza Derakshani, Podgorny Robinson Gallery, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
Reza Derakshani. Black Water, Setareh Gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany
Birth of a Collection 1 : Reza Derakshani, 28 Fine Arts, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2016
Retrospective, The Russian Museum, St Petersburg, Russia
Reza Derakshani, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Germany
Reza Derakshani: The Breeze at Dawn, Sophia Contemporary Gallery, London, UK
2014
Reza Derakshani, Opera Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2013
Reza Derakshani: Retrospective, The Salsali Private Museum, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
My Wicked Persian Carpet, Taymour Grahne Gallery, New York, USA
Reza Derakshani, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, London, UK
2012
Reza Derakshani: Everyday & Every Night, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, Zurich,
Switzerland
Reza Derakshani: Black Sand Paintings, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
Reza Derakshani, The Armory Show, Leila Heller Gallery and Jamm Art, New York,
USA
2011
Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beorut, Lebanon
Circus of Life, Dar Al Funoon Gallery and JAMM Art, Kuwait City, Kuwait
2010
Reza Derakshani, Osborne Samuel Gallery, London, UK
2009
Reza Derakshani, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
Circus of Life, AB Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
2008
Reza Derakshani, Leila Heller gallery, New York, USA
Beyond the Darkness, Khak Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2007
Reza Derakshani, XVA Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Reza Derakshani - Exhibition, Seyhoun Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2005
Assar Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2003
Reza Derakshani, Niavaran Palace Cultural Centre, Tehran, Iran
Caterina Pazzi Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome, Italy
2002
Retrospective, House of Artists, Tehran, Iran
1994
Galleria il Punto di Svolta, Rome, Italy
Tarrahan Azad Gallery, Tehran, Iran
1993
Lawson Gallery, Seattle, USA
1992
Nour Foundation Gallery, New York, USA
1974
Seyhoun Gallery, Tehran, Iran
1971
Ghandriz Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
GROUP SHOWS (SELECTION)
2018
In the light of spring, Podgorny Robinson Gallery, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
Podgorny Robinson Gallery at Art Paris 2018, Paris, France
2016
Voyage à Travers l’Iran, Foundation Behnam Bakhtiar, Monaco
2015
Shattered Mirror, Shattered Music, Metropolitan Museum, New York, USA
2013
Renoir to Damien Hirst, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
Heavenly Paradise, AB gallery, Vienna, Austria
Art of Iran, Opera Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2012
The Rule and its Exception, Debora Colton Gallery, Houston, USA
2011
Show Off!, The Salsali Private Museum, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Mah Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2010
Hope!, Palais des Arts et Festivals, Dinard, France
Made in Iran, Opera Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tehran-New York, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
2009
Iran Inside Out, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, USA
L’Iran sans frontières, Galerie Almine Rech Gallery, Paris, France
Routes II, Waterhouse and Dodd, London, UK
Khosrow and Shirin Series, Dar Al Funoon Gallery, Kuwait City, Kuwait
2008
The Colour of Love, Farhangsara Cultural Centre, Tehran, Iran
Just Paper, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
Hope, Focus Art Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2005
Mah Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2004
Gardens of Iran, Ancient Wisdom – New Vision, Museum of Contemporary Art,
Tehran, Iran
2003
6th Tehran Contemporary Painting Biennale, Museum of Contemporary Art,
Tehran,Iran
Assie Mennegini Gallery, Rome, Italy
1995
Montclair State University, Montclair, USA
1994
Anzio City Hall, Anzio, Italy
1979
Lorry Dunn’s Gallery, Long Beach, USA
1977
Thumb Gallery, London, UK
1976
Tehran University Gallery, Tehran, Iran
Mehr Gallery, Tehran, Iran
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS (SELECTION)
Collection of Leon Black, New York, USA
Collection of Sam Bardaouil, New York, USA
Collection of Mohammed Afkhami, New York, USA
Collection of Saeb Eigner, London, UK
Collection of Sting and Trudie Styler, London, UK
Collection of Athena Andreadis, London, UK
Collection of Maryam Eisler, London, UK
Collection of Marjaneh Halati, London, UK
Collection of Vladimir Tsarenkov, London, UK
Collection of Manijeh Khazaneh, USA
Collection of Roshanak Varasteh, Paris, France
Weng Fine Art Collection, Germany
Collection of Mr and Mrs Lancillotti, Italy
Collection of Roger Federer, Zurich, Switzerland
Collection of Bruno Thomas Sinniger, Liechtenstein
Collection of The Royal Family of Abu-Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Collection of Sheikh Zayed Ben Soltan ben Nahyan, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Farjam Collection, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Salsali Collection at Salsali Private Museum, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Collection of Mr and Mrs Harandi, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Collection of Sheikha Paola Al-Sabah, Kuwait
Collection of Fereydoun Ave, Tehran, Iran
Collection of Goli Samii, Tehran, Iran
Collection of Mr and Mrs Hatam, Tehran, Iran
PUBLICATIONS (SELECTION)
Reza Derakshani. Selected Works, Preface by Sussan Babaie and Roxana Zand (Patrick Cramer Publisher, Geneva, Switzerland, 2010
And Diverse are their Hues, edited by Jonathon Bloom and Sheila Blair, Yale University Press New Haven, USA, 2012
Saeb Eigner, Art of the Middle East: Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World and Iran, Merrell, London, UK 2010
Hamid Keshmirshekan, Contemporary Iranian Art: New Perspectives, Saqi, London, UK, 2013
Silence of the Night, Essay by Negar Azimi, Leila Heller, New York, USA, 2012
My Wicked Persian Carpet, Essay by Scott Indrisek, Taymour Grahne, New York, USA, 2013