BAHAR TAHERI

Visual artist Bahar Taheri was born in Tehran in 1980, and has lived in Montreal (Canada) since 2014. Though principally a painter, she has also produced artistic videos, mixed-media installations and performances throughout her career.  Thus far, she has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions in Iran, Germany, Austria, and Canada. Most recently, in 2018, her work was at the Centre des arts actuels Skol (Montreal, QC). She approaches contemporary concerns through painting, video art and mixed media installations. 

Having lived in a region beset by political and cultural conflict galvanized her fascination with history. A curious captivation that has led her to trace the roots of these events in her work. Taheri seeks out the fundamental means through which our socio-political circumstances are shaped. 

Over the years, her work has touched and explored different aspects of gender, identity, collective memory, and historical events. However, while her early artistic compositions focused mainly on issues specifically pertaining to women in society, over the course of her career she has expanded this angle to consider society more widely. A critical reflection on the effects and limitations exerted by power and religion on society as a whole and its individuals remains central to her current practice. 

Aesthetics and beauty also play an important role in Taheri’s artwork. A specific space is devoted to including details and ornamentation associated to her cultural baggage. 

Most recently, research is being done on architectural structures and their relationship with creed and supremacy. Slowly moving away from a more figurative methodology and subtly flirting with geometric abstraction instead, Taheri has been deconstructing buildings; folding and unfolding monumental walls till binaries, absolutes and hierarchies dissolve into a reconstructed rupture from reality.

Solo Shows:

2014 - Etemad Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2013 - FAk exhibition space, Münster, Germany

2009 - Atbin Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2005 - Atbin Gallery, Tehran, Iran

Group Shows:

2018 -  Exhibition and performance workshop with François Morelli, Centre des arts actuels Skol, Montreal, Canada

2018 - Duo with Marie-Douce St-Jacques, Centre des arts actuels Skol, Montreal, Canada

2018 - Erotic Art Fair, Eastern Bloc, Montreal, Canada

2017 « Un million d’horizons», Mtl 375th anniversary, duo with Makhfi, Galerie Port-Maurice, Montreal, Canada

2017 - Expo 67/17, Montréal, arts interculturels (MAI), Montreal, Canada

2016 - MEKIC, Montreal, Canada

2016 - Nulle p’ART Ailleurs, DAM 10th anniversary, TOHU, Montreal, Canada

2015 Tehran Virtual or Real, Aaran

2015 - Project, Aaran Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2015 - Etemad Gallery , Tehran, Iran

2015 - Selfie, MEKIC, Montreal, Canada

2015 - Salon Esque, Montréal, arts interculturels (MAI), Montreal, Canada

2015 - Open house Atelierhaus Speicher II, Münster, Germany

2015 - Tehran Mon Amour, Galerie Royal, Munich, Germany

2015 - La Nuit Blanche, Café Aunja, Montreal, Canada

2014 - Salvation,Gaza, Niavaran Cultural Centre, Tehran, Iran

2013 - Tehran Art, Lajevardi Fondation, Tehran, Iran

2013 - Austrian cultural forum (OKAF), Tehran, Iran

2012 - Artist talk and presentation of artworks, IM Traklhase Gallery, Salzburg, Austria

2012 - Still Life, Installation – Performance, Azad Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2012 - Portrait, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2012 - Portrait (The Last Time I Saw You), Atbin Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2011 - Border : mixed-media exhibition, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2011 - Portrait 13.18, Etemad Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2010 - Sketching Through the Walls, ICC ATHENS, Athens, Greece

2010 - Auto-portraits (exposition de peinture), Mohsen Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2010 - Inverted Heaven (exposition de peinture), Atbin Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2009 - Exposition de peinture, Art Center, Tehran, Iran

2008 - Community of Iranian Painters, Niavaran Cultural Centre, Tehran, Iran

2008 - Installation & Sound effect, Mane-Honar-No Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2008 - Laleh Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2007 -  Painting Workshop and Exhibition, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMOCA), Tehran, Iran

2007 - Niavaran Cultural Centre, Tehran, Iran

2007 - Atbin Gallery, Tehran, Iran