ABOUT |
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 homeland once again in 2010 and settling in Dubai. He moved back to USA a few years later.
Derakshani currently lives and works between Austin USA and St Petersburg Russia.
ABOUT REZA DERAKSHANI
Reza Derakshani’s 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.
Derakshani’s work has been widely recognized in the media, on television and radio shows and in publications suchas: The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, International Herald Tribune, L ‘unita, The Juilliard music school paper, Le Parisian, Toronto Star, Art Forum, New York Artspeak, The Montreal Gazette and Mirrob, Tandis art magazine, Herfe e honarmand, Art in America, Tamasha, Farhang va Zendegi, Bonny Film, , Corriere della sera, East Hampton magazine, Canvas art magazine, Harpes Bazzar, ABC TV / RAI TV / WNYC / WKCR / WKUT / WKPN / NPR / VOA / KPFK / DUBAI 1 TV / BBC channel 4 / FIP and RFI of Radio France, among others.
SELECTED SHOW & PERFORMANCES
Ghandriz Gallery, Tehran. 1972
Seyhoun Gallery, Tehran, LA / Iran Gallery, Tehran
Tehran University Art Gallery
Mehr Gellery, Tehran
Lori Dunn’ s Gallery, LA / Thumb Gallery, London
Palais de la Nation, Geneva
White Gallery, New Jersey
Claude Gallery, New York
Gellery 1, Mont Clair State University, New Jersey
Alternative museum, New York
La Lestra, Tarquinia, Italy
Media Loft Gallery, New York
East Gallery, Columbia University, New York
Il Punto di Svolta, Rome
St.John’s Cathedral, NY
Pursell Room, London
Lawson Gallery, Seattle
Thread Waxing space, NY
Texas University Art Gallery, Austin
Juilliard music school, New York
Paris- Washington, Gare Pasteur, Paris
Wetherholt Gallery, Washington D.C.
Metropolitan museum, New York
Khane-E Honarmandan, Tehran
Niavaran Museum
Creations Center, Tehran
Tarrahan Azad gallery, Tehran
NYU, New York / Assar Art Gallery, Tehran
Al Feryan gallery, Bahrain
Brooklyn museum, New York
University of Toronto
Caterina Pazzi Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome
Nour Foundation Gallery, New York
Kennedy center, Washington. D C.
Brown University, Rhode Island
Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art
Gallery Mah, Tehran
Khak Art Gallery, Tehran
Art Dubai
Miami Art Fair
Opera gallery, London
Art Paris, Abu-Dhabi
Niki Marquardt gallery, Paris
Wilshire Ebell Theater, LA
LTMH Gallery, New York
Dar Al-Funoon Gallery, Kuwait
Museo Maxxi, Rome
Il Giadino di Filarmonia, Rome
Almine Rech gallery, Paris
Montruixe Jazz festival, Switzerland
Sackler gallery, Washington. D. C.
Central park summer stage, NYC
Chelsea Art Museum, New York
De-Paul university museum, Chicago
Gnawa music festival, Morocco
Waterhouse and Dodd gallery, London
AB gallery, Luzern, Zurich
Abu-Dhabi artfair
Istanbul artfair
Singapour artfair
Osborne Samuel gallery, London
Hope exhibition, Dinard , France
Galerie Patrick Cramer, Geneva, Switzerland.
Leila Heller gallery, NYC
Kashya Hildebrand gallery, Zurich
Opera Gallery, Monaco
SPM, Dubai, UAE
Kashya Hildebrand gallery, London
Art Basel Miami
Taymour Grahne gallery, NYC
Opera Gallery, Seoul, S Korea
AB gallery, Vienna, Austria
Padgorny Robinson Gallery, S France
State Russian Museum, Retrospective, St Petersburg
Museum Gunzenhauser, Retrospective, Germany
Setareh Gallery, Dusseldorf, Germany
Sotheby’s, Solo, Hong Kong. 2017
COLLECTIONS :
Metropolitan museum. NYC
British Museum, London
Museum Gunzenhauser, Germany
State Russian Museum, St Petersburg
SPM, Salsali private museum. Dubai
Leon Black collection. NYC
Passargad museum. Tehran
Farjam foundation. Dubai
Contemporary museum of art. Tehran
Trudie Styler & Sting collection. London, Italy
Mirella Haggiag collection. Rome
Numerous Private collections, Worldwide