Shahpour Pouyan (b. 1979, Isfahan, Iran) is an internationally recognised artist whose work comments on power, domination and political issues through poetic visual forms. The artist brings historical aesthetics and mediums to his contemporary art practice by, for example, reinventing chainmail and painstakingly replicating Persian miniatures. His work does not announce a political agenda; instead, he grapples with historic documents and the human condition which act as sources of inspiration for his varied output. His recent works and projects are influenced by science, archaeology, and the poetry of architectural forms that bridge past and present.

Pouyan has participated in the Lahore Biennial in Pakistan; and the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in Kochi Island. He has been featured in group exhibitions at the National Museum of China in Beijing and the British Museum in London.

His work is part of many prominent private and public collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The British Museum, The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston,  The Abby Weed Grey Collection of Modern Asian and Middle Eastern Art and the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University (both in New York) among others. In 2016, Pouyan was shortlisted for the Victoria and Albert Museum Prize, London, UK and has been awarded the Civitella Ranieri Fellowship for Visual Arts in Umbria, Italy. He has participated in several international residencies including International Cite Des Arts, Paris, the Pegasus Art Foundation, Hyderabad, India, and the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, NY, USA in March 2014.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS 

Asia Society Museum, New York City, USA (2022); The Grey Art Gallery, New York City, USA (2022); Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Ghent, Belgium (2021); Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK (2021); Nathalie Obadiah Gallery, Brussels, Belgium (2021); Keramiek Museum Princessehof, Leeuwarden, Netherlands (2021); Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Ghent, Belgium (2020); Pera Museum, Istanbul, Turkey (2020); Lawrie Shabibi Gallery, Dubai, UAE (2020);  Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris, France (2019); Barbara Walters Gallery, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY (2019); Jane Lombard Gallery, New York City, (2019); MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Canada (2019); REDCAT, Los Angles, USA (2018); Copperfield Gallery, London, U.K (2018); The Armory Show, New York City, USA (2018); Lawrie Shabibi Gallery, Dubai, U.A.E. (2017); Copperfield Gallery, London, U.K. (2015); Lawrie Shabibi Gallery, Dubai, U.A.E. (2014) and Sixty Six Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran (2010).

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