Afshin Naghouni is an Iranian-British

visual art The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and texti ...

ist, known for his controversial, larger-than-life paintings. From a critique about Naghouni’s paintings around the turn of the century: ''he works in an expressive and cubist style that explores every aspect of each object in his compositions, simultaneously.''

Early life and education

Afshin Naghouni (Ash) was born on August 25, 1969 at Ahvaz, Iran, to Sediheh ( Mohammadzaal) and Jahangir Naghouni. Naghouni was considered to be a

child prodigy A child prodigy is, technically, a child under the age of 10 who produces meaningful work in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to describe young people who are extraordinarily talented in some f ...

. For as long as he remembers he was holding a pen or a pencil. He started painting and drawing when he was four or five years old. As a reward, if he had good marks in school, he would go to painting classes during the summer holiday. Quoted reference 18 minute 02 seconds. When Naghouni was 9 years old, he went to his first

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

class and then began emulating the paintings of

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...

and others. He won a number of regional and national

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

competitions between the ages of nine and twelve. Nagouni completed his postgraduate work at

London Metropolitan University London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public university, public research university in London, England. The University of North London and London Guildhall University merged in 2002 to create the university. The Un ...

in the Sir John Cass Department of Art, Media, and Design. When Naghouni was 24 years old, he was attending a birthday party when the building was attacked by the Islamic religious police and fell out of the building trying to escape. The fall damaged his spinal cord and left him in a wheelchair. The events surrounding Naghouni's fall were the subject of a 2014 TV documentary called Out of Focus.

Career

In the summer of 2021, Naghouni unveiled the series in London, entitled ''An Abstract Sense of Life.'' In an interview with Maryam Eisler, Nagouni said he was inspired by Kiefer, Cecily Brown and Caravaggio. Regarding Kiefer and his larger pieces, Naghouni is inspired by Kiefer's ability to create amazing compositions within the sheer scale of his work, and adding that Kiefer is ''one of those few artists who has found the perfect balance between form and concept''.

Selected exhibitions

*2017 **Group show, ''Beyond the Ban: Contemporary Iranian art,'' Susan Eley Gallery,

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*2016 **Group show, ''Art with an Iranian Flavour..” Capsule A selection of Contemporary Art,'' in partnership with Fiat Chrysler Motor Village UK and Monica Colussi,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

**Group show, ''CONTEXT Art Miami,'' Shirin Gallery,

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. **Group show, ''Art for Youth,'' including The Afshin Naghouni Reach Prize, Mall Galleries, London *2015 **Solo show, ''Satire,'' Hay Hill Gallery, London *2014 **Solo show, ''Objectification II,'' Go Figurative, London *2013 **Group show, Paykan, the Iranian Automobile, Aun Gallery,

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

( PaykanArtCar) **Group show, ''Discerning Eye,'' Mall Galleries, London **Group show, ''Peace from the Bottom of My Art,'' Opera Gallery, London *2010 to 2014 **Group show, ''Art for Youth,'' Mall Galleries, London *2002 **Group show, ''Public Exhibition,'' ZCMI Center,

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

**Group show, ''Public Exhibition,'' Art gallery of Nihombashi

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Main Store,

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*2001 **Solo show, ''Afshin Naghouni Solo Exhibition,'' St. Rafael Gallery,

*2000 to 2009 **Group show, ''Art for Youth,'' Mall Galleries,

*1997 **Solo Show, ''Afshin Naghouni Solo Exhibition,'' Aaran Gallery,

Activism

Naghouni was the chairman of the

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

Action Network on Disability. Naghouni was one of 45 Iranian artists who demanded the releases of filmmakers Mohammad Nourizad and Jafar Panahi. ''Beyond the Ban'' was a collaboration between the

Center for Human Rights in Iran The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI; formerly the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, ICHRI) is an American non-government organization that aims to promote human rights in Iran. The group started in late 2007 when several huma ...

and Susan Eley Fine Art, New York. It featured works from Naghouni and American-based Iranian artists including Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari, and Hossein Fatemi.

Mahsa Amini Protests

After the Iranian government killed Mahsa Amini, protests that started at Mahsa’s funeral soon erupted throughout Iran, then quickly in cities around the world. Very soon into the protests, there were renewed talks of bringing down the Islamic regime; moreover, such ambitions would need leaders. On October 1, 2022

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have an interview with Naghouni regarding to the protests in

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BBC News asked for Naghouni’s thoughts about the growing movement, Naghouni mentioned how powerful these protests were for human rights, globally; the protests were of utmost significance in the world. On October 20, 2022 Naghouni talked to Roqe Media’s Jian Ghomeshi. In a short video clip from the interview, Naghouni discusses the conceivable end of Iran’s

Islamic state The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

. Confirmations are mounting that the protesters may be undermining the government. Naghouni explained that there have been many protests in Iran since the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

. Every time there’s a protest, there is talk that it could be the one that topples the Islamic regime. The death of Mahsa Amini was a cumulative breaking point. Naghouni was vehement and measured, in asserting that these latest protests would mark the beginning of the end for Iran's Islamic regime. Full interview. With global protests increasing following the death of Mahsa Amini, leading Iranian artists Afshin Naghouni, Soheila Sokhanvari, Fari Bradley, Bijan Daneshmand, Maryam Eisler and Afsoon, gathered in London to give their support to the work of

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

in Iran, as well as two additional charities currently working with the people of Iran.LDN-POST ''Leading Iranian Artists Gather in London for Art in Iran Fundraiser,''London Post, 14 December 2022, p. 1 City News – Lifestyle, (Links to Lnd Post Banned by WP)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Naghouni, Afshin 1969 births Living people British contemporary artists British male painters 20th-century British male artists 21st-century British male artists British abstract painters Iranian painters British mixed media artists Alumni of London Metropolitan University Alumni of Sir John Cass College English people of Iranian descent People from Ahvaz 20th-century Iranian male artists 21st-century British painters Iranian human rights activists Mahsa Amini protests Iranian dissidents Iranian emigrants to England British human rights activists