Chivas Regal, 2016

Mehdi Mirbagheri  

Mehdi Mirbagheri is a contemporary Iranian artist, he was born in 1980 in Tehran. He studied graphic design at the Tehran Art Soureh school and then joined the art and architecture department of Azad University, and graduated in 2007 with a master's degree in painting.

He was still studying when he chose to turn towards new mediums and the mix various techniques such as photo, graphic design, painting and collage, in order to develop his own visual identity, on the way he tried out various artistic experiences like video installations and performance.

A fan of Roy Lichtenstein, he gradually turned towards pop art, and leaned towards pictorial codes of the Arabic and Persian calligraphy movement. His creations shake up visual codes, and forge links with aesthetics and true meaning. His art is much more natural and pure.

In his "Peeping Tom" series , Arabic calligraphy and Persian erotic onomatopoeia are combined with sensual body images. He is well aware that the Westerners will have a hard time understanding the meaning, therefore the artist humorously plays on the ambiguity and the discrepancy which exists between Western fantasies and the reality of Iran. Mirbagheri highlights these cultural contrasts and therefore can portray his work to Western spectators and enrich his creative process through these new reactions.

The artist currently exhibits in Iran and has done several exhibitions in USA.