About
Elham Nafisi was born in Shemiran on July 3rd, 1983. Her work generally falls in the genre of landscape painting, inspired by visual sources from the Middle East and Far East. The history of Iranian painting prior to the 15th century, particularly the 7th century AD and the late Sassanid era, is a period when Manichaean and Sogdian paintings with clear religious functions are strongly reminiscent of the cave paintings in Dunhuang, China. Elham Nafisi’s comparative studies in the relationship between painting and tradition in the Far East have become a source of inspiration for her recent work. This inspiration goes beyond the morphology of Manichaean paintings and references the formation of their content too.
Painters who considered themselves prophets communicated Manichean and Buddhist teachings to people who were illiterate. Elham Nafisi’s work is also formed in this process where meaning is created. In fact, the animal characters in her paintings provide an opportunity to express social and political views.
These types of instructional stories have a thousand years old history in Iran and India. The Kalila and Demna, Mouse and Cat, and The Conference of Birds are among the most famous of these allegorical stories. For example in the Masnavi, Rumi uses the image of the lion and the rabbit in the garden of leisure to reveal a political truth by depicting the overthrow of the lazy lion king by the tactful rabbit. Elham Nafisi is inspired by this story, and by appropriating it in the form of an indirect narrative she takes part in its history.
Nafisi’s treatment of the figure as a type of abstraction is reminiscent of a genre of contemporary art, known as radical figurative, where regardless of any statement made by the artist, the hundred-year history of the abstract is presented to the viewer in the form of a tangible image.
By referencing the history of Iranian painting, Elham Nafisi attempts to connect two worldviews. Her adaptation of Iranian painting in the form of three-dimensional perspective of modern painting, more than offering an answer, presents the question of an artist who depicts her confused identity in the position of a westernized woman from the east. This question becomes more serious when we realize that from the 1900s onwards, Iranian painters have been searching for forms of painting that kept them connected to their original identity, while also linking them to their contemporary era.
In her paintings Nafisi has tried to extract a personal language from the morphology of Iranian painting; an investigation similar to the reaction to Paul Klee’s drawings. Additionally, in order to emotionally connect with Nafisi’s paintings, one must approach them with certain preconceptions. In fact, in order to understand symbolic paintings, the viewer must be able to recognize the codes within them. For instance, if one does not recognize the Christian structure of the artist’s mind when faced by a work by Arnold Böcklin or Gaspard David, then one will only be able to experience it as a landscape.
Elham Nafisi currently lives and works in Tehran.
Elham Nafisi
Visual artist, Instructor
Professor of Art and Architecture Faculty of Azad University in Central Branch of Tehran, Iran
Born in 3th July 1983, Shemiran, Iran
Based in Tehran, Iran
The Member of Association of Iranian Painters (AIP)
Education
2010, M.A in Painting, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Iran
2006, B.A in Painting, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Itan
2011, Diploma in Drawing, Jahad-e-Daneshgahi Institute, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran
2000, Diploma in Mathematics and Physics, Bahonar High School, Tehran, Iran
Awards, Honors and Grants
2015, second Prize in the Research Section of “the first Festival of Urban Media”, Held by “Communication and International Affairs Center of Tehran’s Municipality”, Tehran, Iran
2012, second Prize in the Research Section of “the first Biennial of Urban Mural and Environmental Graphic”, Organization of Tehran Beautification, Tehran, Iran
2011, My M.A thesis: “The Conceptual Evolution of Tehran's Urban Arts since the 1970s to the Present Day” Acquire a Studies Grant from “Tehran Municipality Directorate General of Sociocultural Studies, Tehran, Iran
2001, the Winner of “the 6th Iranian Contemporary Drawing”, Barg Gallery, Tehran, Iran
Solo Exhibition
2019, “Euphoric Garden Series”, Painting Exhibition, Homa Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
Auction
2023, The 17th Tehran Auction Modern and Contemporary Iranian Art, Parsain Azadi Hotel, Tehran, Iran
2023, Smart Auction, Artibition, Tehran, Iran
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024, the 2th Exhibition of Selected Artworks by Who's in Paper Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2023, The 17th Tehran Auction Modern and Contemporary Iranian Art, Parsian Azadi Hotel, Tehran, Iran
2023, “100 Years of Flower and Nightingale”, Vista Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2023, “Connective Strings of Resilience", Foundry Downtown Art Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2022, “Mohammad Siyah-Qalam Awars-Featured Artists”, Azad Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2021, “Negareh in Negar”, Negar Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2021, “Summer Selection”, Shirin Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2021, “Flower and Vase”, Homa Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2020, “Rally”, Group Exhibition of Artistbooks and Sketchbooks, Soo Contemporary Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2020, “Illusionism, Virtualism and Surrealism in Iranian contemporary Art”, Shirin Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2019, “Circular Garden of Memory”, Eynodole Building- Barg Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2018, “Time, Space, Memory”, Pardis Mellat Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2017, “the 2th Painter Narrator”, Shirin Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2017, “Montakhab-e- Nasl-e-No”, Shirin Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2016, “Research Expo 1”, Iranian Artist’s Forum, Tehran, Iran
2015, “the 5th Small Paintings”, Arya Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2015, “The 4th Art Expo of Several Generations of Iranian Contemporary Artists”, Laleh Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2015, “Born of a Painter”, Iranian Artists’ Forum, Tehran, Iran
2008, “the2th Visual Arts Festival (Damon far)”, Niavaran Cultural Center, Tehran, Iran
2008, “the7th Tehran Painting Biennial Exhibition”, Saba Cultural Center, Tehran, Iran
2008, “the4th Olympic and Art Festival”, National Academy of Olympic of Iran, Tehran, Iran
2006, the Dual Painting Exhibition, Elaheh Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2006, “the first Visual Arts Festival (Damon far)”, Niavaran Cultural Center, Tehran, Iran
2006, “Islam World Painting Exhibition”, Saba Cultural Center, Tehran
2002, “Contemporary Drawing of Iran”, Barg Art Gallery, Tehran
Exhibitions
