Avant-garde Artists

Marcel Duchamp transformed modern art through readymades, wordplay and experiments with everyday objects. Discover his visual language and lasting influence on conceptual art.

Morteza Momayez (1936–2005) was an Iranian graphic designer, illustrator and educator who helped shape modern graphic design in Iran. His practice encompassed posters, visual identities, book covers and editorial design, alongside teaching and professional advocacy. Visual Language and Media Momayez combined illustration, typography and concise visual signs to develop a distinct language for each commission. […]

Hossein Behzad (1894–1968), born in Tehran, was an influential twentieth-century Iranian miniature painter and illustrator. Workshop training and close study of historical painting informed his development of a personal approach to the medium. Visual Language and Media Beginning with Timurid and Safavid models, Behzad developed a more individual approach to composition and figures. Persian literary […]

Farah Ossouli, born in Zanjan in 1953, is an Iranian contemporary painter. Her work brings the narrative possibilities of Persian miniature painting into dialogue with contemporary life, women’s experiences and art history. Visual Language and Media Ossouli combines miniature painting’s structures with symbolic narratives and literary and visual references. Detailed execution and the relationship between […]

Bijan Elahi (1945–2010), born in Tehran, was an Iranian modernist poet, translator and painter associated with the Other Poetry movement. Painting and visual experience informed his wider engagement with language and translation. Visual Language and Media Elahi’s early experience of painting contributed to the visual sensibility of his poetry. His involvement with painting belonged mainly […]

Pariyoush Ganji, born in Tabriz in 1945, is an Iranian painter, textile designer and educator. Textile design, Iranian ornamental traditions and international study have informed the development of her visual language. Visual Language and Media Windows, flowers, trees and landscapes recur in her paintings. Abstraction, expressive colour and an interest in light connect different periods […]

Kambiz Derambakhsh (1942–2021), born in Shiraz, was an Iranian cartoonist, draughtsman and graphic artist. His career encompassed decades of work for Iranian and international publications and a distinctive practice of visual humour. Visual Language and Media Economical lines and apparently simple situations carry layered meanings in his drawings, addressing everyday experience and the human condition. […]

Sohrab Sepehri (1928–1980) was an Iranian painter and poet, and an important figure in modern Iranian art and literature. Nature and an engagement with East Asian visual and philosophical traditions connect his painting and poetry. Visual Language and Media Tree trunks, desert landscapes and still lifes become concise, often semi-abstract images. Restricted colour, stillness and […]

Farideh Lashai (1944–2013), born in Rasht, was an Iranian multidisciplinary artist. Her work spanned painting, sculpture, installation and moving image, alongside writing and translation. Visual Language and Media Landscape and nature connect with abstraction, narrative and personal history in her work. In later projects, animation and painting enter into dialogue. Selected Exhibitions Artistic Practice and […]

Behjat Sadr (1924–2009), born in Arak, was a pioneering Iranian abstract painter and art educator. Working between Iran and Europe, she developed a distinctive exploration of material, movement and the painted surface. Visual Language and Media Black paint, scraping tools and unconventional supports produce distinctive traces and rhythms. The relationship between nature and the industrial […]

Lilit Teryan (1930–2019), born in Tehran, was an Iranian-Armenian sculptor and an influential figure in modern sculpture education in Iran. Workshop practice and training generations of artists were central to her career. Visual Language and Media The human figure and observation of nature were important to her work and teaching. Stone, plaster and volumetric structures […]

Iran Darroudi (1936–2021), born in Neyshabur, was an Iranian painter, writer and documentary filmmaker. Her painting and cultural work developed through a long career in Iran and internationally. Visual Language and Media Light, colour and evocative spaces are central to her paintings. Landscape often moves beyond direct representation towards an imagined, poetic environment. Education and […]

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (1922–2019), born in Qazvin, was an Iranian artist who brought mirror mosaic and the geometry of Iranian art and architecture into contemporary abstraction. Visual Language and Media Mirror fragments, geometric repetition and shifting light and reflections structure her work. Drawing, collage and sculpture accompanied her mirror mosaics. Education and Training Studied art […]

Mohsen Vaziri Moghaddam (1924–2018), born in Tehran, was an Iranian painter, sculptor and educator. Experimentation with abstraction, material and movement shaped his work in Iran and Italy. Visual Language and Media His sand paintings and articulated sculptures make the relationship between body, tools and material part of the creative process. The transition from representation to […]

Ardeshir Mohassess (1938–2008), born in Rasht, was an Iranian draughtsman, illustrator and satirist. His critical treatment of power and social relations occupies a distinctive place in modern Iranian drawing. Visual Language and Media Precise line, grotesque situations and references to historical imagery and Persian miniature painting shape his drawings. Humour often carries a sharp social […]

Ahmad Aali, born in Tabriz in 1935, is an Iranian photographer and painter. He is an influential figure in establishing photography as an independent artistic medium in Iran. Visual Language and Media Composition, relationships between image and time, and experiments with self-portraiture form part of his practice, alongside photographs of Iran’s artistic community. Education and […]

Aydin Aghdashloo, born in Rasht in 1940, is an Iranian painter, designer, writer and educator. His practice brings together the study of Iranian and European art, restoration, painting and writing. Visual Language and Media In Memories of Destruction, meticulous re-creations of historical artworks are paired with images of damage and decay. Gouache is a principal […]

Manoucher Yektai (1921–2019), born in Tehran, was an Iranian-American painter and poet. Associated with the New York School and Abstract Expressionist circles, he retained recognisable subjects within his painting. Visual Language and Media Thick impasto, energetic brushwork, figures, objects and still lifes distinguish his paintings, balancing recognisable subject matter with the freedom of paint. Education […]

Charles-Hossein Zenderoudi, born in Tehran in 1937, is an Iranian painter and a founding figure of the Saqqakhaneh movement. He developed an individual pictorial language using letters, numbers and signs drawn from Iranian visual culture. Visual Language and Media Rhythm, repetition and the arrangement of signs structure much of his work. Letters function as forms […]

Nikzad Nodjoumi, also known as Nicky Nodjoumi, is a painter and illustrator born in Kermanshah. His paintings explore power, violence and people’s positions within social structures. Visual Language and Media His figurative tableaux combine unsettling situations and satire. Dislocated bodies, spaces and signs take the imagery beyond a literal account of a single event. Education […]

Marcos Grigorian (1925–2007) was an Iranian-Armenian painter, educator, gallerist and collector. He contributed to modern art in Iran and explored new material possibilities within painting. Visual Language and Media Earth, straw and everyday materials become the substance of his Earthworks rather than simply their subject. Surface, texture and geometric structure are central to these works. […]

Shirin Neshat, born in Qazvin in 1957, is an Iranian artist and filmmaker. Her photography, video and cinema explore identity, gender, migration and relationships between individuals and social structures. Visual Language and Media Text and image, sound and silence, and layered narratives recur in her work. Photographic series and video installations sit alongside feature films […]

Siah Armajani (1939–2020), born in Tehran, was an Iranian-American artist. Working across sculpture, architecture and public space, he explored the relationship between art and collective life. Visual Language and Media Bridges, gardens, reading spaces and public structures connect form with use, presence and social interaction. His practice also included drawing, painting and conceptual projects. Education […]

Parviz Tanavoli, born in Tehran in 1937, is an Iranian sculptor, painter, researcher and collector. He is a central figure in Iranian modernism and the Saqqakhaneh movement. Visual Language and Media His Heech, Poet, Lock and Cage series draw on language, popular culture and Iranian visual traditions. Research into textiles and folk art also informs […]

Bahman Mohassess (1931–2010), born in Rasht, was an Iranian painter, sculptor, translator and theatre director. His work developed between Iran and Italy within a distinctive modernist practice. Visual Language and Media Human and animal figures, compact or fragmented forms and mythological references recur in his work. Painting, printmaking and sculpture were principal media. Education and […]

Ahmad Amin Nazar, born in Abadan in 1955, was an Iranian painter, draughtsman, printmaker and educator. His expressive figurative work connects drawing with Persian painting, literature and mythology. Visual Language and Media Strong drawing, transformed figures and metaphorical narratives characterise his work, bringing European artistic experience into dialogue with Eastern visual traditions. Education and Training […]