MAHMOUD BAKHSHI MOAKHAR
Born 1977, Tehran, Iran. Lives and works in TehranSelected Solo Exhibitions
2007Ave Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2006
Mahmoud’s Driving School, Tehran Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2004
‘Oh ABOLFAZL’, Tehran, Iran
2002
Barg Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2001
Barg Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2000
Barg Gallery, Tehran, Iram
Selected Group Exhibitions
2009
‘Iran Inside Out: Influences of Homeland and Diaspora
on the Artistic Language of 56 Contemporary Iranian Artists’, Chelsea Art Museum, New York (NY), USA
'Raad O Bargh' 17 Iranian Artists, organised by Gallerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Kunstraum Deutsch Bank, Salzburg, Austria
2008
‘Iran: New Voices’, Barbican Centre, London, UK
‘Lion Under the Rainbow: Contemporary Art from Tehran’, Athens, Greece
‘In the State of Weightlessness’, Silk Road Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2006
‘Asia Art Now’, Alternative Space Loop, Seoul, Korea; travelling to Arario Gallery, Beijing, China
‘Iran.com: Iranische Kunst Heute’, Museum für Neue Kunst, Freiburg, Germany
‘Eastern Expressway’, Evangelische Stadtakademie, Frankfurt, Germany
2005
'Amazon Series', Rebell Minds Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2004
‘Victim’, Niavaran Artistic Creations Foundation, Tehran, Iran
2003
‘Spiritual Vision’, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran, Iran
Cite International des Arts, Paris, France
2002
'New Art', Tehran Museum Of Contemporary Arts, Tehran, Iran
Third Tehran sculpture Biennial, Niavaran Artistic Creations Foundation, Tehran, Iran
2001
First Exhibition of Iranian Conceptual Art, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran, Iran
2000
Second Tehran sculpture Biennial, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran, Iran
Mahmoud Bakhshi's work directly engages with the political and social issues of contemporary Iran. Drawing on familiar motifs from his home, Bakhshi explores the seemingly arbitrary boundaries and real divisions that inform national identity. After graduating with a BFA in sculpture from Tehran University, Bakhshi has contributed to numerous exhibitions in Iran and internationally. Exhibiting in his home country has caused him to develop a complex range of means to encode any critical perspective. His 2006 solo exhibition, Mahmoud's Driving School at Tehran Gallery, presented a blackly comic translation of the diagrams used to teach right-of-way rules at intersections. Cheerfully coloured cartoons showing red, yellow and blue vehicles negotiating a crossroads were captioned with horrifying descriptions of imminent violence: "The blue truck has right of way. It carries 150kg of explosives and will stop opposite a hospital in the next street."
Iran is an ancient empire whose borders have expanded and contracted throughout history. Bakhshi's work explores contemporary Iran's relationship with this history, as it intersects with both the perceptions of its citizens and those perpetuated by the West. In 2004 he was included in the 11th Asian Art Biennale, Dhaka, Bangladesh and received second prize at the 3rd Tehran Sculpture Biennale in 2002. Recent international exhibitions have included Raad o Bargh, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, 2009; Iran: New Voices, Barbican Centre, London, 2008; and Lion under the Rainbow: Contemporary Art from Tehran, in association with D.ART, Athens, 2008. Exploring issues topical to the current political climate, Bakhshi interrogates the rhetoric of nationality.