Iranian American artist Shiva Ahmadi   reworks the visual language of traditional Persian miniature painting to address contemporary political tensions. Across a variety of media, including watercolor painting, sculpture, and animated video works, Ahmadi often uses beauty to seduce the viewer, creating exquisitely crafted scenes that slowly reveal dangers within.

In addition to a recent solo exhibition at the Elaine L. Jacob Gallery at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, Ahmadi's work has been exhibited and collected by institutions including the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA; Asia Society Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grey Art Gallery at New York University, and Rubin Museum of Art (all New York, NY); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; Herbert F. Johnson Museum at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada; and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
Conversations
Shiva Ahmadi, Strait of Hormuz , 2014
Watercolor on paper, 40 x 60 inches, HG14489
Contradictions and Tensions:
Shiva Ahmadi Interviewed by Naomi Falk

"Contradiction was something that I grew up with. My paintings are layers of hiding and revealing, pain and closeness, beauty and ugliness, abstraction and figuration, gesture and control, transparency and visceral texture."

In a new interview with BOMB Magazine, Shiva Ahmadi speaks with Naomi Falk about violence and storytelling, and how Persian poetry and miniature painting unfold in her paintings and contemporary politics.

Artist Profile: Shiva Ahmadi

Shiva Ahmadi sat down with New York's Asia Society Museum during her solo exhibition: "My life has always been influenced by politics."
Portfolio
Shiva Ahmadi
Gabriel's Horn, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
73 x 60 inches
HG15426
Shiva Ahmadi
The House, 2019
Acrylic and mixed media on paper
Paper: 22 x 20.5 inches
Frame: 26 x 22.5 inches
HG15284
Shiva Ahmadi
Red Light , 2020
Acrylic on canvas
50 x 63 inches
HG15427
Shiva Ahmadi
Green Painting, 2019
Mixed media on canvas
50 x 60 inches
HG15283
Shiva Ahmadi
Pressure Cooker #10, 2018
Intaglio hand-etching on metal pressure cooker from Afghanistan
16.5 x 12 x 12 inches
HG14496
Shiva Ahmadi
Ascend, 2017
Animation
6 minutes 48 seconds
Edition of 7 + 2 AP
HG13950
Artist Talk
Still from Shiva Ahmadi, Lotus , 2014
Animation, 8 minutes 51 seconds, Edition of 5 + 1 AP, HG14522
Virtual Artist Talk with Shiva Ahmadi
The Rubin Museum of Art | Online

Tuesday, June 2, 2020
2:00 PM PST / 5:00 PM EST

Join Shiva Ahmadi for an exclusive talk and screening of her 2014 film Lotus , followed by a Q&A moderated by Rubin Museum of Art Curatorial Associate Anna Cahn.

Since 2019, Lotus has been screened at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York as part of Shrine Room Projects , which features works by contemporary artists reinterpreting traditional and religions iconography in dialogue with the Museum's Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room.
"I never wanted to make artwork that is very political and goes right to the point. I wanted to seduce the viewer and engage them in a more playful process."
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