BAHRAM DABIRI
Fantastic World of Bahram Dabiri
Bahram Dabiri was born in the city of Shiraz, Iran in the year of the Tiger, 1950, under the sign of Sagittarius, whose symbol, the Centaur with bow and arrow figure greatly in his works. Looking at the reliefs and sculptures on the walls of nearby Persopolis and the splendid inscription of the Naqsheh Rustam Monument, are amongst the artist’s treasured childhood memories. At the age of twelve, without encouragement or tutelage but strictly on his own, Dabiri started his career in what he likes to call “The Paintings”.
In 1966, his family moved from Shiraz to Tehran, the capital of Iran, and one year later he held his first professional exhibition at the Sepid Gallery. In 1970 he was accepted into the Fine Arts Department of Tehran University, and received his undergraduate degree in painting some four years later. Meanwhile he met and married a fellow student, namely Simin Ekrami, who, apart from being a fine sculptress in her own right, gave him stability and security in his home life. Simin and Bahram have a daughter and son who are both at University.
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Profile of the Painter’s Works
Upon close examination of Bahram Dabiri’s works to date, his mental and artistic vision can be divided into three more or less well defined periods.
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1971-1978 First Period
These works start from his university days and continue for a few years thereafter. At university he was greatly influenced by the works of Bosch and Bruegel, the Elder. They are mostly romantic and surrealistic works paintings with vivid flash colorings, which, at one and the same time, reflect both his dreams and nightmares. The works contain lines and nude bodies, his two obsessions in this period, which kept him working night and day, for long and endless hours.
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1979-1983 Second Period
This period coincides with the onset of revolution and turmoil in Iran. Greatly influenced by social emotions, he worked on ‘larger than life’ canvases, in an effort to try to capture the tremendous upheavals occurring around him in Iran. His canvases are full of historic and social messages addressed to the Iranian nation as a whole.
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1984-Present Third Period
An energetic and endless quest to continually experience and experiment new materials and techniques, permeates this period. Dabiri finds his spiritual mentor in Pablo Picasso, who becomes his alter ego. The contents of the works include global mythology, elements of Persian historic and artistic heritage, and still-life studies. His quest for wider experience, led him to emulate and enhance the styles of the Shiraz and Manish schools of painting (two accepted methodologies of Iranian painting) in his recent works. During this era he has also turned his hand to the functional arts in an attempt to bring modern art into the ordinary peoples’ homes. His numerous works with ceramics, forged steel, wrought iron, felt and “Gabbeh” rugs, are all examples of this endeavor.
Exhibitions
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2021 Group show, "Birds", Soo Contemporary, Tehran
2020 Group show, "Summer's Color ", Shamideh Art Gallery, Tehran
2020 Group show, "Shabtab 8 - Online Viewing", Azad Art Gallery, Tehran
2020 Group show, "Shabtab (7)", Azad Art Gallery, Tehran
2020 Group show, "Editions", Aknoon Gallery, Isfahan
2020 Group show, "Carbafoo - Collection I", Saye Gallery, Tehran
2019 Group show, "Painting and Sculpture Show", Sarv-E Naz Gallery, Shiraz
2019 Group show, "Eye of The City", Sarv-E Naz Gallery, Shiraz
2019 Group show, "Editions", Aria Gallery, Tehran
2019 Group show, "Collector 3", Artibition, Tehran
2018 Solo show, "Painiting Show", Golestan Gallery, Tehran
2018 Solo painting show, Golestan Gallery, Tehran
2018 Group show, "Painting Show", Sohrab, Tehran
2018 Group show, "I Sohrab Sepehri", Dd Museum Gallery, Mazandaran
2018 Group show, "Free Sale", Tarahane Azad Gallery, Tehran
2018 Group show, "6th International Art for Peace Festival", Pardis Mellat, Tehran
2018 Group painting show, Sohrab, Tehran
2013 Summer group painting show by 60 Artists
2012 Show, Seyhoon Gallery, Tehran
2010 Sole shows, Golestan Gallery, Tehran
2009 Group show, Hana Gallery, Tehran
2009 Group show, Haft Negah, Tehran
2008 Solo painting show, Atbin Gallery, Tehran
2008 Group show, Tirgan, Toronto, Canada
2007 Sole show, Mekic Gallery, Montreal, Canada
2007 Sole show, Collages and Drawings based on the Saadie’s Poetry, Shirin Gallery, Tehran
2007 Sole show, Arta Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2006 Sole shows, Neek House Gallery, Yazd, Iran
2006 Sole show, "A Handful of Dust", Tiles and Vases, Golestan Galley, Tehran
2006 Show, Painting and sculpture by Bahram Dabiri, Simin Ekrami, Ramtin Hotel, Tehran
2005 Painting show, Mah Art Gallery, Tehran
2004 Painting show, "Gol va Morgh", Saadabad Palace, Tehran
2003 Painting show, House of Artists, Tehran
2003 Group show, Bernak Gallery, Bremen, Germany
2003 Group show, "Autumn", Hotel Mirage, Dubai
2002 Painting show, "Bahram’s Classics", Seyhoun Gallery, Tehran
2002 Group show, "Spring", Hotel Mirage, Dubai
2001 Solo painting show, 20 selected works, Marbella Country Club, Marbella, Spain
2001 Sole show, "Bahram Dabiri's Insects (Metamorphosis)", Ave Gallery, Tehran
2001 Sole show, "Bahram Dabiri's Inscriptions", Golestan Gallery, Tehran
2001 Sole show, "25 Leaves from a Lost Book", Seyhoon Gallery, Tehran
2001 Group show, Iranian Artists’ Forum, Tehran
2001 Group show, "Total Arts at the Courtyard", Dubai
2000 Show, Symbolic expression in the Iranian contemporary painting, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, Iran
2000 Group show, Reagan Center, Washington, D.C., USA
2000 Group show, Contemporary Iranian Modern Art, New York
2000 Group show of allegorical themes in Iranian modern paintings, Museum of Contemporary Arts, Tehran
2000 Group painting show, Art Expo New York, New York
2000 Group painting show of Iranian artists, Shevchenko Museum, Kiev, Ukraine
1999 Show, Tensil Paintings, Pasargad Gallery, Tehran
1999 Group show, "Total Arts at the Courtyard", Dubai, UAE
1998 Solo stained glass show, Passargad Gallery, Tehran
1998 Solo show, "The Hens and Roosters of Bahram Dabiri", Golestan Gallery, Tehran
1998 Sole shows, "Envelopes", Niavaran Book City, Tehran
1997 Solo show, Works of the Shiraz School, Personal Workshop, Tehran
1997 Commissioned to produce 120 collages and 3 bas-reliefs for Istiqlal Hotel, Tehran
1996 Solo show, Ceramics and Metals, Golestan Gallery, Tehran
1996 Solo calligraphy and drawing show, Personal workshop, Tehran
1996 Sole etchings & drawings Show, Tehran
1996 Show, "Felt Rugs: Second Generation", Golestan Gallery, Tehran
1996 Private show, Etchings & Drawings, Tehran
1996 Group show, Mixed Media: Metal & Ceramic Works, Golestan Gallery, Tehran
1995 Solo show, "Felt Rugs", Golestan Gallery, Tehran
1994 Solo show, Seyhoun Art Gallery, Tehran
1993 Solo show, Arya Gallery, Tehran
1993 Group painting show, Abi Gallery, Babol
1992 Solo show, Personal workshop, Tehran
1992 Solo painting show, 50 Works, Tehran, Iran
1992 Shared show with Hannibal Alkhas, Abi Gallery, Babol, Iran
1992 Group painting show in support of Bosnian Women & Children
1991 Show, "Collages", Golestan Gallery, Tehran
1990 Show, 70 works, Private Viewing, Tehran
1990 Drawing show, "Birds & Looks", Open-Air Show, Darakeh Mountains, Tehran, Iran
1989 Solo show, Personal Workshop, Tehran
1989 Solo show, Pafar Gallery, Tehran
1988 Solo show, Nashr Noghreh, Tehran
1987 Iranian mythological drawings show, Artist's Workshop, Tehran
1986 Solo show, "Figures", Personal workshop, Tehran
1986 Paintings & portraits show, Artist's workshop, Tehran
1985 Solo show, "Curtains", Personal Workshop, Tehran
1985 Mythological studies show, "Paintings & Drawings", Artist’s workshop, Tehran
1984 Solo show, "Still Life", Personal workshop, Tehran
1984 Solo design show, Personal Workshop, Tehran
1984 Landscape studies show, Private workshop, Tehran
1982 Group painting show, Museum of Contemporary Arts, Tehran
1981 Show, The Council of Iranian Writers and Artists, Tehran
1981 Group painting show, Museum of Contemporary Arts, Tehran
1980 Solo show, Commissioned Works, Mural Painting, Khazaneh Bus Terminal, Tehran
1980 Show, The Council of Iranian Writers and Artists, Tehran
1980 Painting show, Reopening Show, Museum of Contemporary Arts, Tehran
1980 Live painting show, "In Front of People", Bagh Ferdows, Tehran
1980 Group show, Iranian Writers & Artists Assembly, Tehran
1980 Group mobile shows in the northern cities of Iran
1979 Show, Tehran Gallery, Iran
1979 Group painting show, Reopening, Museum of Contemporary Arts, Tehran
1979 Group live painting show, "Before the Public", Bagh Ferdows, Tehran
1978 Solo painting show, Tehran Gallery, Iran
1977 Solo show, Tehran Gallery, Iran
1977 Shared show with Hannibal Alkhas, Naqsh Gallery, Tehran
1977 Group painting show, Derici Gallery, Shiraz
1977 Group drawing show, Naghsh Gallery, Tehran
1976 Solo painting show, Seyhoon Gallery, Tehran
1976 Solo painting show, Goethe Institute, Tehran
1976 Group painting show, Derici Gallery, Shiraz
1976 Group drawing show, Naghsh Gallery, Tehran
1975 Solo shows, Goethe Institute, Tehran
1975 Solo show, Seyhoun Art Gallery, Tehran
1968 Solo painting show, Sepid Gallery, Tehran