Tehran’s Museum of Contemporary Arts is hosting an exhibition for eminent Iranian artist Mehrdad Sadri who has been working on painting and sculptures outside Iran for over four decades.
Close to 50 artworks including paintings and sculptures are on display. Warm colors are seen in most of his works. “Shades of red symbolize love and life. The color red has its roots in our culture and literature and can be defined differently as divinity, love or beloved; these are the main themes in my works,” Sadri said, reports Honaronline.
“Art sparks my imagination through form, color and material. It is the translation of a thought, an idea or an illusion, that becomes real,” he added.
Titled ‘Interaction’, the exhibition opened on Sunday (June 14) in the presence of Majid Molla-Norouzi, director of the museum, Ali Moradkhani, art deputy at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance as well as artists and art enthusiasts.
Molla-Norouzi, who also heads the visual arts department at the Ministry of Culture, spoke on the cultural goals of the museum. “It is our duty to showcase contemporary Iranian art and an important part of this art is abroad which (unfortunately) has been ignored.”
Referring to the painting exhibition by another expatriate artist Abolghassem Saeedi, 90, held for the first time in 60 years in Tehran last week, he said, “I feel obliged to invite Iranian artists living abroad to display their works in their homeland.” The Iranian essence and flavor can be seen in artworks by expatriate artists.
Pointing to the formalistic attitude and abstract works of several expatriate artists, including Sadri, Moradkhani said, “In the past they did not think of showcasing their works here as they thought their style would not be welcomed, but now the tables are turned and we try to pave the way for artists to present their works. They will be judged by their peers and the public.”
Born in Tehran, Sadri lives in Austria. He studied decorative and textile arts as well as art education at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and has been teaching at the Federal Institute of Decorative Arts since 1985.
He has held numerous exhibitions in Austria and abroad, mostly showcasing his oil paintings and plastic art. On his works he said, “My works of art are not so much inspired by the external world in which I live but rather by subjective needs: the world of dreams, wishes and desires”.
The exhibition will run until August 7.
