Born in 1980 in Tehran, Iran, Payam Mofidi is a painter, video artist and an animation filmmaker currently based in Montreal.
Mofidi began learning painting and drawing at an early age and later attended the painting workshops of Hannibal Alkhas, the well-known Iranian painter and educator while studying graphic design at the university. Being inspired by techniques of animation, character making and storytelling, he explored video art and experimental animation while studying animation in Paris and developed his own unique approach to art making by incorporating techniques used in video and animation making.
What are central to all of Payam Mofidi’s works are his unique lyrical aesthetic language and the epistemological expression he uses to narrate and create his works. In his works, he predominantly deals with paradoxical notions; agony and comfort, innocence and impurity, searching while being blindfolded, and in many cases he portrays his characters in situations they seem to trapped in loops which metaphorically signifies the social actuality of contemporary man and the global social order and control.
Payam Mofidi’s drawings and videos are both based on real scenography, captured in time through either staged photography or videography. Using same technique to transfer the photos or his selected video frames onto paper, he artistically manipulates his captured images with his sketches and creates his independent drawings out of the photos or turn the sketched frames back into video using animation techniques.
Payam received a BA in graphic design in 2005 from Azad University of Art and Architecture in Tehran and graduated with honors from l’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs of Paris in 2009. His works has been exhibited in solo exhibitions in Iran and internationally, also as part of numerous festivals and events worldwide.
Education
2009 MA, Animation, L’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (EnsAD), Paris, France
2005 BA, Graphic Design, Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Solo Exhibitions
2017 Variations on An Instrument of a Human Anatomy, Assar Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2015 Cohesive Disorder, the Ferry Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand
2014 Cohesive Disorder, Assar Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2012 Destroyed Memories, Assar Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
Selected Group Exhibitions
2017 Limited Access 7, New Media Society, Tehran, Iran
2017 The List II- On Paper, O Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2016 Art for Autism, Niavaran Cultural Center, Tehran, Iran
2016 Assar Artists’ Annual Group Exhibition, Assar Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2015 Urban Lawns, Mim Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2015 Va… Unfailing Memory, Va Independent Space for Contemporary Art, Freiburg, Germany
2015 Body Without Organs, MAI (Montreal Art Intercultural) duo exhibition, Montreal, Canada
2015 Crisis of History # 3, Beyond History, Framer Framed, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2015 Confusion : Iranian Artists in Roman Labyrinths, Rome, Italy
2014 There Is No Foreign Lands. It Is the Traveler Who Is Foreign, Interactive video installation, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran
2014 Alwan for the Arts, Shirin Gallery, New York, USA
2013 The sea. Smiles from Far off. Teeth of Foam. Lips of Sky, OBORO, Montréal, Canada
2013 Manipulated Image Exhibition of Video Art, Gislaved, Sweden
2013 Manipulated Images Exhibition of Video Art, Coagula Curatorial, Los Angeles, USA
2013 The MOP CAP 2013 Shortlist Exhibition, Dubai, UAE
2012 Ville Imaginaire, Les Territoires Gallery, Montreal, Canada
2012 Close to My Heart, Digital Marrakech, Marrakech, Morocco
2012 Regard Perçant sur l’Iran, CINEMATICA, Montreal, Canada
2012 ECLECTIK 2012, M.A.I, Montreal, Canada
2012 The Invisible Present, Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2011 Iran via Video Current, Thomas Erben Gallery, New York, USA
2011 Pulso Iraniano Iranian Contemporary Art, Oi Futuro Cultural Center, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2011 Aubette, Strasbourg, France
2010 Maison de Métallos, Paris, France
2009 Paris 18th District’s Town Hall, Paris, France
2005 Aban Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2004 6th Painting Biennial, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran, Iran
2001 Tarahan Azad Gallery, Tehran, Iran
Art Fairs
2015 ArtInternational Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
Festivals
2017 Les Rencontres Traverse Video, Toulouse, France
2016 Parishani, New Media Society, Tehran, Iran
2016 Les Rencontres Traverse Video, Toulouse, France
2015 Festival des Cinémas Différents, Paris, France
2015 Athens Digital Arts Festival, Athens, Greece
2015 Above: A Festival of Imaginary Events, UK-Iran
2014 Festival du nouveau cinéma, FNC LAB, Montreal, Canada
2012 Festival International Montreal en Arts (FIMA), Montreal, Canada
2011 Without Borders Film Festival, Rome, Italy
2011 Cologne OFF, Arad Art Museum, Arad, Romania
2010 Temps d’images, La ferme du Buisson, Marne-la-Vallée, France
2010 Animated Film Festival, Yokohama, Japan
2010 Rythmetic International Festival of Experimental Animation, Begles, France
2010 Projection in the Short Films evening, Prague, Czech Republic
2010 Projection in the Short Films evening "Iran vs (Iran etc.)”, Istanbul, Turkey
2008 Clermont – Ferrand Short Film Festival, Clermont – Ferrand, France
Short Films
2009 Poéticide, animated short film, L’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (EnsAD), France
2006 Subito, animated short film, L’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (EnsAD), France
Grants and Awards
2015 MAI, Mentorship Grant, Montreal, Canada
2014 CALQ grant for video artists, Quebec, Canada
2014 SODEC grant for visual artists, Montreal, Canada
2012 Magic of Persia contemporary art prize, Dubai, UAE
2012 M.A.I.-PRIM grant, collaborated with Ila Firouzabadi, Montreal, Canada
2010 Jury Special Prize, Rythmetic International Festival, Begles, France
EXHIBITIONS
Cohesive Disorder, Assar Art Gallery, 12 September- 3 October, 2014
Destroyed Memories, Assar Art Gallery, 5- 24 October, 2012
PUBLICATIONS
ArtInternational Istanbul 2015 (catalogue)
Cohesive Disorder, Assar Art Gallery, 12 September-3 October 2014 (catalogue)
Destroyed Memories, Assar Art Gallery, 5 October-24 October 2012 (catalogue)
