Quarante Lumière, Composition, 2018
Jamal Arabzasdeh born in 1973 in Tabriz (Iran) is a visual artist who practices different artistic mediums including painting and photography. Through these practices he tries to address the issue of light and shadow in space. In this series of photographs, he is interested in the chandeliers that light up a historical place in Iran. The project focuses on the mausoleum of Imam Reza in Mashhad located in northeastern Iran. In Iranian culture, the chandelier is attached to a particularly religious notion. The images are intensified by the play of light reflected by the numerous mirrors that characterizes the architecture of such monuments.
He studied painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Tehran University. He then moved to France to continue his studies in Visual Arts. He passed a Master’s degree at UHCV, a DEA at the University of Marc Bloch and a thesis at the University of Strasbourg.
Back in Iran, he continued his artistic activities as a teacher in Tehran, among others as the Artistic Director for the 12th edition of the Fadjr International Festival of Visual Arts (2019-2020). Since 2013, he is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Visual Arts of the Tehran University of Art. He becomes Vice President of the Iranian Painters Society in 2018. From 2016 to 2019 he is the Scientific and Educational Director of the Farabi International Campus at Tehran University of Art. He is the Head of the Painting Department of Tehran University of Art from 2014 to 2016.