MOHAMMAD HOSSEIN EMAD

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Born in 1957 in Arak, Iran. Mohammad-Hossein Emad is one of the dominant figures among Iranian sculptors.

Emad attractively and imaginatively materialises his poetic and abstract vision towards existence through unique sculptures and invites his audience to get connected with his personal world and observations through his artwork. The unrefined surfaces of his sculptures and their simplicity are essential characteristics that serve as a real life function.

As a sculptor it is very important to Emad to increase an objective engagement with his audiences. He invites his viewers to look through the artworks, walk around them, sometimes listen to the natural sound made by them, be mesmerised by the designed shadow that is cast on the floor and eventually get lost in the naïve yet very contemporary aura of each sculpture.

His choice of material, the spatial forms he innovatively creates and the way he places them in space all together form his visual and conceptual language. By laying emphasis on void and the complementary connection between lightness and solidity, Emad aesthetically portrays the driving force of nature: the opposite ends of a cycle and the interconnection between contrary forces: empty and full, light and weighty, dark and light, fire and water, high and low, day and night..

His brief stay in Paris from late 2008 to 2010 inspired him to reflect more on modern-day manifestations. Exports from Iran (2010) and Battling Amnesia (2009) were created during and after his stay in France. Using corrugated cardboard in Exports form Iran made him become more interested in the material, its interior texture and the way it led light through its cells. His most resent series, Lit Shadow, is the outcome of his two-year experiment with layers of corrugated cardboard and certain synthetic materials with similar makeup, as well as with light and aluminium.

Mohammad-Hossein Emad lives and works in Tehran. He has exhibited worldwide in the past twenty years and won many awards. Several of his works are installed in public spaces in Tehran and other cities of Iran and his work has been exposed in several art fairs and national and international biennials.