Editions 2024: Group Presentation

Parviz Tanavoli (b. 1937, Tehran, Iran) is a well-known Iranian contemporary artist whose work has gained attention beyond Sculpture – his specialized medium – across a variety of disciplines. His collection of various Iranian artifacts has influenced many of his works and those of his students and researchers. He graduated from the Brera Academy of Milan (1959). He taught sculpting at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (1960) and the Tehran College of Decorative Arts (1961-1963). He was the head of the sculpting department at the University of Tehran, a position he held for 18 years until 1979 when he retired from his teaching duties. Since 1989, he has lived and worked both in Tehran and Vancouver, Canada. His latest solo exhibition, "Oh Nightingale" (2019), was held at the West Vancouver Art Museum. 

Parviz Tanavoli is considered a leading figure in "Saqakhaneh", an artistic movement to which many Iranian contemporary artists of the 1970s adhered, using artifacts, designs, and motifs belonging to popular artforms in Iran to speak to contemporary issues. Sculptures of Tanavoli are rife with objects and forms detached from their original context and given a new sense, most famous among these his iconic "Heech" sculptures. Meaning "nothingness" in Persian, "heech" has a cosmological history whose calligraphic form takes its viewers into a meandering world of contemplation. Heech was also a commentary on the evolution of contemporary art in Iran, a response to the growing tendency of visual artists of the 70s to follow trends in Western art by borrowing from their traditions of image-making. Tanavoli's collection of Iranian artifacts is part of his artistic discourse. Through the collection, which has spanned over five decades, he has studied the ways artisans in the Iranian plateau interacted with their environment. He published many books detailing his collections and held a major exhibition at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art ("Parviz Tanavoli and the Lions of Iran", 2017) in which he placed his paintings and sculptures next to rugs, jewelry, locks, water fountains, and designs bearing the mark of a lion. As such, Tanavoli has a central place in the visual history of Iran, to which he has devoted his life and creative input.

Bita Fayyazi (b. 1962, Tehran) lives and works in Tehran. More than a sculptor, an installation artist, or a ceramicist engaged in some mystic relationship with her material, Fayyazi is an artist who works within a more performative and markedly social practice. 

Bita Fayyazi struggled to show her work amidst an atmosphere of stuffy traditionalism, academicism, and the influx of 1990s conceptual art. Beginning in the mid-1990s, her artistic interventions challenged the official definitions of art. The works of Fayyazi are collaborative by nature. She and her artist or non-artist colleagues use whatever material is readily available to wrap and entwine, paint, and cast sculptures made of the fabric of social participation. She reconstitutes the energies of the many toward an uncertain resolution. The final object becomes less important than the process – the collective doing, the love of doing – that preceded its creation. 

Homa Delvaray (b. 1980, Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian graphic designer and visual artist living and working in Tehran. Since earning a degree in Visual Communication from the University of Tehran (2006), she has extended her work across mediums, from installation to sculpture, textile art to artist books.

Her practice activates the overlap of graphic and stage design in a spatial framework. Her works, often presented as an installation of a group of objects, engage the architectural space using a combination of design and spatial strategies. A graphic designer by training, Delvaray employs the tools she has at her disposal to research and present what she observes as the paradoxical life within the dichotomies found in the life of contemporary Iranians. Her recent series investigates gender relations and how it has been formulated in mythological metaphors and tropes.

Reza Abedini (b. 1967, Tehran) is an Iranian artist and graphic designer. He graduated from the University of Tehran in graphic design (1985) and Painting (1992). He is also an art critic, independent art director with Reza Abedini Studio (1993), and art director at "Manzar" magazine in Iran. He lives and works in Iran, the Netherlands, and Lebanon.

The works of Reza Abedini maintain a modern theme as he blends traditional Islamic patterns, calligraphy, and culture. He combines simple illustrations with poetic typography and elegant layouts, exploring the elaborate beauty of the Persian script and language. He is known for solving the Persian script layout problem using a technique to break the font's continuous and single-leveled baseline and to extend the height of every visual cluster to his preferred dimension.

Reza Lavassani (b. 1962, Tehran, Iran) is a postwar and contemporary visual artist who works across various mediums, including painting, sculpture, illustration, and stage design. He began his artistic journey by studying graphics at the Tehran Boys' Conservatory and later pursued painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Tehran, graduating in 1991. In addition to his artistic education, Lavassani has extensively studied philosophy, with a particular focus on mythology, sociology, and history—themes that feature prominently in his work. He also received an education at an Islamic seminary (Hawza), although he did not complete his studies there. His art has been showcased in numerous galleries, including Barg, Aria, Elaheh, Assar, and Mah galleries. His work has been presented at several art fairs, and he has received many awards, including the Noma Concours award in Tokyo. In 2019, Reza Lavassani represented Iran at the Venice Biennale with a large papier-mâché installation that featured intricate details.

Reza Lavassani's paintings possess a distinct sculptural quality, particularly evident in works like "Horses," where he delves into mythological themes. His use of varied spaces—positive, negative, and porous—in depicting plants, humans, and horses enhances the three-dimensional depth of his work. Lavassani draws inspiration from ancient Indian and Iranian paintings, with poetry, particularly the works of Rumi, playing a pivotal role in shaping the mental imagery in his art. As he puts it, Rumi's poetry "evokes captivating spaces within my mind," which deeply influences his creative process. Art critic Rouyin Pakbaz connects Lavassani's art to Iranian visual and literary traditions, highlighting the artist's recurring focus on three key motifs: horses, symbolizing speed and nobility; women, representing sacred fertility; and birds, serving as messengers between heaven and earth.

Mohammad Hossein Maher (b. 1957, Abadan, Iran) is a contemporary Iranian painter and sculptor, with a degree in painting from Tehran's School of Fine Arts. He is a well-known figure and is considered one of the prominent painters in contemporary Iranian art, teaching art to students and aspiring artists for many years.

Throughout his years of activity, has consistently offered insightful perspectives on the cultural and historical experiences of society, as well as his inner world, to his audience. In his artistic journey, Mohammad Hossein Maher initially focused on southern Iran, holding exhibitions featuring local elements. Over time, his work evolved, delving into deeper cultural and mythological aspects, embracing the symbolism of myth and folkloric figures. Maher explored the themes of migration and displacement, particularly during his "Yademan" series. His "Peleh" series, on the other hand, is a more personal exploration of movement and progression, emphasizing the significance of texture and minimalism. Maher's work reflects his deep connection to cultural and historical elements, presenting a thought-provoking narrative through his art. He often places colors in small pieces on the surface, thus confronting the viewer with numerous frames in a primary composition. The predominant composition found in his works is the "cross composition." In what he has produced, both in terms of symbols and in terms of attention to qualities and concepts, the study of Manichaean and Zoroastrian art cannot be overlooked.

Ali-Akbar Sadeghi (b. 1937, Tehran) is a renowned visual artist who started painting at an early age. He graduated with a BA from the College of Fine Arts of the University of Tehran in 1969. He worked as a graphic designer (posters, book covers, packaging) for many years before joining the Center for the Intellectual Development of Children and Adolescents (CIDCA) in 1971. CIDCA was a thriving center for creative work, and Sadeghi directed his attention to making animations and illustrating books.

Inspired by the folk culture of Iran, his lively, spirited canvases and illustrations are where modern and ancient aesthetics coincide.

In 1991, at the 25th anniversary of CIDCA, Sadeghi was honored for his outstanding book illustration and filmmaking achievements. In 2009, the Iranian Ministry of Culture (Ershad) recognized Sadeghi as "an outstanding cultural figure and contributor to Iranian art and culture.” Ali-Akbar Sadeghi has held 12 solo exhibitions in Iran and worldwide, including "A Retrospective" in the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art in 2018. His works have appeared in numerous group exhibitions since 1984. He participated in the Singapore Biennale (2019). Dastan Gallery showed two works of the artist in "Soft Edge of the Blade" at Frieze's No. 9 Cork Street in February 2022 and at all the three exhibitions of “Mosavarnameh” between 2015 and 2018. Drawings and paintings of Sadeghi are held by many art institutions, including the British Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.

Shadi Yasrebi (b. 1989, Tehran), a graduate of Graphic Design from Azad University, has held three solo exhibitions to date.
Shadi Yasrebi creates distinctive sculptural assemblages by incorporating found and collected objects – flyers, wire, pieces of wood, and cardboard. She looks freshly at the Persian calligraphy tradition through her obsessive and defiant practice. In her "A Shield to Hide Behind" series (Dastan's Basement, 2021), the artist incorporates the geometric forms of arches and domes. In naming some of her works, she sometimes refers to historical places in Iran: "Sunset in Yazd", "Early Morning in Si-o-Se Pol", and "Closed Bazar."

Ali Beheshti (b. 1988, Qom, Iran) is Tehran-based artist. He received his MFA in Painting (2016) and BA in Graphic Design (2013) both from Azad University of Tehran.

Ali Beheshti experiments with a variety of materials and mixes techniques, including multiple thin layers of graphite powder, ink and pencil, with less conventional ones, such as print transfer, to create frames that have the appearance of three-dimensional works. His forms are informed by an interest in Islamic-Iranian philosophy: how every form hints at an origin that can be deciphered by wading through layers of appearance. He thus pares down the visual characteristics of a form in his drawings to arrive at its mainspring.

Ali Beheshti has held three exhibitions with Dastan's Basement ("Opaque", 2021; "Interpretation", 2019; "Insensible", 2017). His works have appeared in many group exhibitions, including "Encircle the Apple or Shadowlessness" (V-Gallery, Tehran, 2019), "Agog" (V-Café, Tehran, 2016), both curated by Aidin Xankeshipour, and "I draw, therefore I think", a South South Project curated by Jitish Kallat (2021). Ali Beheshti has also shown his work in several art fairs, including Frieze Seoul (2022); Teer Art Fair Online (2020); Le Gymnasium Sacre, Curated by Sam Samiee in Dastan’s Basement Booth at Art Dubai 2019.

Fereydoun Ave (b. 1945, Tehran, Iran) is an influential figure in Iranian contemporary art. He received his BA in Applied Arts for Theatre from Arizona State University (1964), studied Film at New York University (1969), and attended the University of Seven Seas (aka Semester at Sea, 1964). Over the past five decades, he has taken on many roles as an artist, designer, art director, collector, curator, gallerist, and art patron.

The art of Fereydoun Ave is a freehanded engagement with a personal ethos informed by more prominent cultural influences. He ceaselessly reflects on his relationship with age, myths, plants, elements, seasons, moods, and heredity. He takes inspiration from the art of Iran, which tends to use the entire canvas surface, and the Western penchant for minimalism, which leaves large swaths unattended. Fereydoun Ave's joint projects with artists, galleries (including Dastan), and institutions are an integral part of his practice, reflecting his role as a curator, gallerist, and collector.