Sina Ghadaksaz Iranian, b. 1992
Overview
Sina Ghadaksaz (b. 1992, Tabriz) is a multimedia artist whose practice unfolds at the intersection of painting, anthropological inquiry, and material experimentation. Trained in Multimedia Arts and later completing an MFA in Art Studies at Tabriz University, Ghadaksaz approaches image-making as an extension of his work as an art ethnographer. His practice is grounded in the belief that painting can function as a form of cultural and existential investigation—less through conceptual declaration than through the physical labor of making images.
Ghadaksaz’s work centers on recurring visual and narrative motifs, most notably Sugar, a fictional, organic character developed over several years. Sugar embodies an alternative evolutionary path—an existence free from human ego, driven instead by adaptation, prudence, and minimal effort. Through this character, the artist asks a persistent speculative question: What if evolution had taken a different route? In this framework, painting becomes a cognitive stimulant: a medium capable of delivering pleasure, energy, and imaginative possibility, much like sugar itself within the human body.
His expansive material vocabulary—ranging from oil painting to wood and ceramic sculpture, wall drawings, video projection, and mixed-media installations—supports a practice that is both deeply painterly and continuously experimental. Though he explores various materials, Ghadaksaz is fundamentally a painter: his mastery of oil, executed with such extreme precision that it is often mistaken for pencil, anchors even his most interdisciplinary works.
Ghadaksaz has exhibited widely within Iran and internationally. His work has been shown at major art fairs, including Art021 Shanghai (2021), where he was presented by Dastan Gallery alongside leading Iranian contemporaries, and UNTITLED Miami Beach (2022), where he had a duo presentation with Milad Mousavi. He has held three solo exhibitions at Dastan’s Basement—A Spectacle (2020), Sugar in the Basement (2022), and Sugar and the Sweetness of Evil (2025)—each expanding the mythology and material articulation of the Sugar universe. His institutional presence includes exhibitions at the Sanati Contemporary Art Museum in Kerman (2019) and international presentations such as Soft Edge of the Blade Vol. 2 at Zaal Art Gallery, Toronto (2023). His work is included in notable publications such as Imago Mundi (Luciano Benetton Collection) and Mundial Magazine.
Ghadaksaz’s work centers on recurring visual and narrative motifs, most notably Sugar, a fictional, organic character developed over several years. Sugar embodies an alternative evolutionary path—an existence free from human ego, driven instead by adaptation, prudence, and minimal effort. Through this character, the artist asks a persistent speculative question: What if evolution had taken a different route? In this framework, painting becomes a cognitive stimulant: a medium capable of delivering pleasure, energy, and imaginative possibility, much like sugar itself within the human body.
His expansive material vocabulary—ranging from oil painting to wood and ceramic sculpture, wall drawings, video projection, and mixed-media installations—supports a practice that is both deeply painterly and continuously experimental. Though he explores various materials, Ghadaksaz is fundamentally a painter: his mastery of oil, executed with such extreme precision that it is often mistaken for pencil, anchors even his most interdisciplinary works.
Ghadaksaz has exhibited widely within Iran and internationally. His work has been shown at major art fairs, including Art021 Shanghai (2021), where he was presented by Dastan Gallery alongside leading Iranian contemporaries, and UNTITLED Miami Beach (2022), where he had a duo presentation with Milad Mousavi. He has held three solo exhibitions at Dastan’s Basement—A Spectacle (2020), Sugar in the Basement (2022), and Sugar and the Sweetness of Evil (2025)—each expanding the mythology and material articulation of the Sugar universe. His institutional presence includes exhibitions at the Sanati Contemporary Art Museum in Kerman (2019) and international presentations such as Soft Edge of the Blade Vol. 2 at Zaal Art Gallery, Toronto (2023). His work is included in notable publications such as Imago Mundi (Luciano Benetton Collection) and Mundial Magazine.
Works
Exhibitions
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Sina Ghadaksaz | "Sugar and the Sweetness of Evil"
Dastan's Basement 2 - 23 May 2025 The BasementA solo presentation of works by Sina Ghadaksaz at Dastan's Basement.Read more -
Group Presentation | "Soft Edge of the Blade Vol. 2"
Zaal Art Gallery 28 Oct 2023 - 25 May 2024 ZaalA Group Peresentation of works by Iranian Contemporary Artists. Reza Abedini, Nasser Bakhshi, Homa Delvaray. Hoda Kashiha, Reza Aramesh, Kiarash Alimi, Mohsen Vaziri Moghaddam, Behjat Sadr, Kour Pour, Sina Ghadaksaz,...Read more -
Sina Ghadaksaz & Milad Mousavi
Untitled Art Miami 2022 29 Nov - 3 Dec 2022 Art FairsA duo presentation of works by Sina Ghadaksaz and Milad Mousavi, at Parallel Circuit's booth presented by Dastan Gallery.Read more -
Sina Ghadaksaz | "Sugar in the Basement"
Dastan's Basement 13 May - 10 Jun 2022 The BasementA solo presentation of works by Sina Ghadaksaz at Dastan's Basement.Read more -
Group presentation
ART021 2021 11 - 14 Nov 2021 Art FairsDastan is pleased to announce its third participation at ART021 with a presentation of works by Farrokh Mahdavi, Ghasemi Brothers, Hoda Kashiha, Kiarash Alimi, Sam Samiee and Sina Ghadaksaz. Booth:...Read more -
Sina Ghadaksaz | "In Basement: A Spectacle"
Dastan's Basement 21 Feb - 13 Mar 2020 The BasementA solo presentation of works by Sina Ghadaksaz at Dastan's BasementRead more
News
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Sina Ghadaksaz to be featured in "Where The Wild Roses Grow"
Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery July 5, 2023Sina Ghadaksaz’s works will be part of a group show at the Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery. The gallery’s third summer exhibition, 'Where The Wild Roses Grow,'...Read more -
Sina Ghadaksaz
“Sugar in the Basement”: Sina Ghadaksaz’s Exhibition at Dastan Basement May 14, 2022“Sugar in the Basement” was the title of an exhibition by Sina Ghadaksaz at Dastan Basement, on view from May 13 to June 10, 2022....Read more
