Speakers: Mohammad Barrangi, Artist; Ladan Akbarnia, Ph.D., Curator of South Asian and Islamic Art, The San Diego Museum of Art; and Roshi Rahnama, Founder and Director of ADVOCARTSY, an Iranian contemporary art platform and gallery

Gain new insights in contemporary Iranian art through UK-based Iranian artist Mohammad Barrangi, whose layered artistic practice combines contemporary printmaking with Iranian illustrated manuscript traditions to explore narratives about personal experience and identity as well as more universal themes. Much of the artist’s repertoire carries an extra layer relating directly to his experience as an immigrant trying to find their way in a diasporic world, but all of Barrangi’s work is layered with elements added at random in a deliberate manner to create the final collage. The Museum acquired Migration, its first work by Barrangi, in 2021 with funds raised by the Museum’s Patrons of the Arts of Iran and the Persian Cultural Center (PCC) of San Diego.

Hear the artist in conversation with Ladan Akbarnia, Ph.D., Curator of South Asian and Islamic Art at the Museum, and Roshi Rahnama, Founder and Director of ADVOCARTSY, an Iranian contemporary art platform and gallery. After a brief introduction of the artist and Ms. Rahnama, Dr. Akbarnia will present questions and topics for discussion with the artist about his work and artistic practice, including an opportunity to introduce an upcoming live art installation at the San Diego Museum by Barrangi, in October 2023.

Mohammad Barrangi was born in Rasht, Iran, in 1988. Now based in the UK, he is both a globally recognized artist and a medal-winning athlete who has represented Iran internationally in the 100m sprint. Born without full mobility in his left arm, Barrangi has developed a unique artistic practice that utilizes his right hand and both feet to create his distinctive works. Blending traditional calligraphy with experimental mark-making techniques, Barrangi combines elements of Persian calligraphy, storytelling, text, and touches of humor to create intimate works on handmade paper that are selectively expanded into large-scale murals.

Barrangi holds a degree in graphic design from the Islamic Azad University of Tonekabon and recently graduated from the Royal Drawing School in London. Barrangi has extensively exhibited his work around the world, winning numerous awards and recognition that has led to the prolific publication of his illustrations in a variety of books. His works have been acquired by the permanent collections of the British Museum, the Royal Family Collection, the National Government Collection in the UK, the San Diego Museum of Art in the USA, as well as the Cluj Napoka Art Museum in Romania.  In addition, LACMA has selected two of Barrangi’s works on paper for their permanent collection.