Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian was born in Qazvin, Iran in 1923. She studied at the Fine Arts College at Tehran University (1944-46), Parsons School of Design, New York (1946-49) and Cornell University, Ithaca (1950-51).

Farmanfarmaian first worked as a commercial artist and designer in retail in New York. When she returned to Iran in 1957, she started working in the traditional art of mirror mosaics. Her reputation peaked in the 1970s, with major exhibitions in Paris and New York. After the Islamic Revolution of 1979 she took refuge in New York, working on commissions, drawings, collages and models. Her return to Tehran in 2000, where she lives today, represented her rebirth as an artist.

Her recent solo shows include “Recent Works” at Rose Issa Projects, London (2010); “Geometry of Hope”, curated by Rose Issa at Leighton House Museum, London (2008); “Recollections”, Third Line Gallery, Dubai (2008); and “Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian: Mirror Mosaics” at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (2007).

Recent group shows include "Zendegi: Twelve Contemporary Iranian Artists" (curated by Rose Issa Projects) at the Beirut Exhibition Center (2011); “Diwan East West”, Venice Biennale (2009); “Die Macht dest Ornaments”, Belvedere Museum, Vienna (2008-9); “Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian”, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, Switzerland (2008); and “Iranian Contemporary Art”, curated by Rose Issa, The Curve Gallery, Barbican, London (2001).

Her work is in several public collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; the Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, Australia; the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Niyavaran Palace & Cultural Centre and Saadabad Museum, all in Iran; The Metropolitan Museum and the Grey Art Gallery, both in New York; and the Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. She is on the shortlist for the Jameel Prize 2011 exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, which will tour worldwide.

She features in several publications including a forthcoming monography edited by Hans Ulrich Obrist; “Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian: Heartaches”, edited and with an introduction by Rose Issa (Nazar Research and Cultural Institute, 2007); “Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian: Mosaic of Mirrors” by Rose Issa, with a foreword by Frank Stella (Nazar Research and Cultural Institute, 2006);  and “Iranian Contemporary Art” by Rose Issa, (Booth-Clibborn Editions, 2001).