Behrang Samadzadegan (b. 1979, Tehran, Iran) learned the basics of art at the Center for the Intellectual Development of Child and Adolescent at a very young age and went to the vocational school of graphic design later on. He received his BFA from the Tehran University of Arts and his MFA from Tehran Tarbiat Modares University. In 2008, he received the Golden Feather from the first International Media Art Forum for Youth in Cairo. In 2009, he received the Visiting Arts artist residency award in Spike Island, Bristol, United Kingdom. In 2012, he was awarded the artist residency from the Atelierhaus Salzamt, Linz, Austria. He was also the recipient of the artist residency of the Cleveland Foundation Creative Fusion Artists Program, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. As a scholar and curator, he enjoys discovering and studying new artistic phenomena and believes in rethinking and challenging the established rules and requirements of art. Painting has been Behrang’s main focus. The subject matters of his works are drawn from images and narratives of contemporary Iranian history, which he combines with fictional stories and the aesthetics of painting. His goal, however, is not to represent historical narratives. The image of history, he believes, is a personal matter created under the influence of visual and aesthetic stereotypes; a combination of confusion, chaos, and a futile quest for reaching unattainable truth. Similarly, throughout his work, he pursues hierarchies and systems that distort the representation of information and the consciousness; systems such as politics, aesthetics, and history that can empty and sterilize contexts and create arbitrary hierarchies that cause confusion and eliminate the possibility of recording and expressing the truth. As he sees it, this system also governs the creation of art, and it does not intend to reach a destination or find a way to redemption; the only thing that remains is a search for an alternative way and finding a new hope to get out of the turmoil and crisis. Thus, his creative process is influenced by the past, paralleled by the experience of living in the present. Moreover, in his painting progress, Behrang seeks an understanding of painting as a medium that is working on new terms in a post-medium condition. He has an interest in how painting might be used as a tool for openly addressing and reflecting on aspects of cultural identity, which might position itself against painting’s declarative aspect. He collates motifs from personal and collective shared experiences. These motifs are often derived from multiple contexts and eras, and share properties of ambiguity. Behrang believes that painting is where seemingly incontestable things are reconsidered and put into new relationships with other things. Thus, painting lends itself well to reflection.
Reference: https://mohsen.gallery/series/heading-utopia-chapter-2-the-spring-that-never-came/
Behrang Samadzadegan, “Accompanying Shirin on Her Way to Perish. (After Nezami Ganjavi)”, from “Heading Utopia; Chapter 2: The Spring That Never Came” series, watercolor on Arches paper, 128.4 x 180.5 cm, frame size: 133 x 185.5 cm, 2021
Behrang Samadzadegan, “The Triumph of Death (After Palermo Fresco)”, from “Heading Utopia; Chapter 2: The Spring That Never Came” series, watercolor on Arches paper, 128.4 x 180.5 cm, frame size: 133 x 185.5 cm, 2020
Behrang Samadzadegan, “Miracle of the Manna (After Tintoretto)”, from “Heading Utopia; Chapter 2: The Spring That Never Came” series, watercolor on Arches paper, 129.5 x 208 cm, frame size: 134 x 213 cm, 2020
Behrang Samadzadegan, “In the Country of Last Things (After Paul Auster)”, from “Heading Utopia; Chapter 2: The Spring That Never Came” series, watercolor on Fabriano Artistico paper, 138.5 x 215.5 cm, frame size: 143.5 x 220 cm, 2021
Behrang Samadzadegan, “In the Penal Colony (After Kafka)”, from “Heading Utopia; Chapter 2: The Spring That Never Came” series, watercolor on Arches paper, 138 x 215.5 cm, frame size: 143 x 220 cm, 2021
Behrang Samadzadegan, “The Day After the Last Day (After Tintoretto)”, from “Heading Utopia; Chapter 2: The Spring That Never Came”, series, watercolor and pencil on Arches Cotton paper, 130 x 181 cm, frame size: 133.5 x 185.5 cm, 2021
