Reza Derakshani
Born 1952
Iran
Painter and musician, Reza Derakhshani has achieved a unique expression using the traditions of Iran and contemporary Western abstract art. Reza Derakhshani's work can be considered as a contemporary expression of Persian miniature (Negargari).
Painter and musician, Reza Derakhshani (b. 1952) has achieved a unique expression using the traditions of Iran and contemporary Western abstract art. Reza Derakhshani's work can be considered as a contemporary expression of Persian miniature (Negargari).
Reza Derakhshani was born in Semnan and became renowned in the art world when he was young. In the early 1970s held his first solo show in Ghandriz Gallery and Seyhoun Gallery in Tehran. Derakhshani studied Visual Arts in the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, under the tutelage of Hannibal Alkhas, Marcos Grigorian, and Mohsen Vaziri Moghaddam. To complete his education, he attended Pasadena Art School in California. He started teaching at the University of Tehran and after some years immigrated to the U.S. and then to Europe.
Large-scale paintings by Reza Derakhshani are full of pure colors and feature luminous surfaces made up of silver sheets or gold and so on. Through his works, Reza Derakhshani successfully combines the symbols and figurative elements of Iranian art within the realm of Abstract art. Even though Reza Derakhshani's paintings derive their visual elements from traditional Iranian art, they have also been influenced by Neo-Expressionist and Western Abstract art.
Additionally, being a painter, Reza Derakhshani is a musician as well. Emphasizing the rhythmic harmony of elements, texture, and colors is due to his musical mind. He returned to Iran in 2003 and the Iranian Artists Forum exhibited his works in a show entitled, "Retrospective". The collection included paintings, music, and performances. Reza Derakhshani's works were exhibited in the 6th Tehran Contemporary Painting Biennial, held at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. His most important exhibitions during the 2000s were the solo shows entitled "Beyond the Darkness" at the Khak Art Gallery in Tehran and "Migration" at Leila Heller Gallery in New York.
Derakhshani's "Hunting" collection is based on traditional paintings of hunting scenes in the royal court.
Some of Reza Derakhshani's most important art collections in recent years are "Posted", "THE SHADOW OF A FIG TREE QUIETS MY SOUL", "Emanations", and "EMPTY HOUSE PARTY", "Blackwater" and "The Breeze at Dawn". These collections are presented in Iran and other countries, including the London Opera Gallery, the Sophia Contemporary Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met), and the Leila Heller Gallery in New York.