Tehran

Azad Gallery is pleased to present Tehran, the first solo exhibition in Iran by Mamad Rafi. This exhibition unveils a series of realistic paintings that explore the enduring architecture and intimate alleys of the city's Pamenar and Molavi neighbourhoods.

Mamad Rafi (b. 1956, Tehran) began his artistic journey as a child, learning to paint from his elder brother, who was a student of the renowned Qahveh-khaneh painter, Hassan Ismailzadeh. After a period of migration and working in various trades, including vitreous enamel in Los Angeles, a visit to his younger brother in Germany reignited his passion for painting. He later settled in London in the late 1990s, where he joined the Art Register group and, in 2004, won the first-place Artmont Open award. His international practice later flourished in South Africa, where he held two solo shows under the name Mike Rafi.

The works in Tehran represent a homecoming. After returning to Iran around 2017, Rafi embarked on this body of work, created from photographs taken during long walks through the streets of the capital. The resulting paintings, begun eight years ago, are marked by a profound personal connection to their subject matter. They reflect a lifetime of artistic evolution, from his early training in Tehran to the refined realist technique honed through decades of international exposure.