Vahid Sharifian

Vahid Sharifian (1982) was born in Esfahan, Iran but currently lives in Los Angeles, USA. His artworks have been exhibited in many places such as "Ropac Gallery (Paris), James Fuentes LLC (New York), Chelsea Art Museum (New York, NY), Institute of Contemporary Arts (London, UK), Den Frie Udstilling (Copenhagen, DK ), Guangju Museum (South Korea) and the Venice Biennale (2015). His artwork has been featured in Artnews, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and Art in America. Vahid Sharifian was included in 100 New Artists by Francesca Gavin and was published by Laurence King Publishers in 2011.

Sharifian's works are a combination of ZEN, porn and melancholy. The most important concepts and ideas come immediately from his homeland, because he experienced many paradoxes. The paradox of a religious communist atmosphere combined with a brutal regime. According to Sharifian, one can escape these unethical paradoxes through art.

According to Sharifian, in his new series he casts the paradoxical atmosphere in which he grew up. "About being in ZEN; that's what I do all the time to keep my mind in a calm and clear situation and to be protected from bad news, happening in the world and especially in my home country," says Sharifian. Technically, his references don't just come from Japanese art. Although he loves them and has been inspired by them, his grandfather's and uncle's work has been his main source of inspiration." I learned these techniques from their work when I was 8 years old. Likewise, the animals in my works are inspired by them", he says. Basically, the bulk of his career is based on nature, poems, his challenges with sexuality, gender, taboos and all conventional rules from which he came.