Farah Ossouli (b. 1953, Zanjan, Iran) is a painter working and living in Tehran. She received her BA in Graphic Design from the University of Tehran, where she taught between 1972 and 1987. Farah Ossouli achieved a unique fusion of techniques, materials, themes, and narrations during her forty-year career as an artist. She has been a pioneer in introducing contemporary themes and ideas into miniature painting. Ossouli’s latest series is based on classical European painters chosen by the artist based on their historical and conceptual relevance vis-à-vis the manifestation of violence in our world today. By transforming the medium (Persian painting) and figures (female holding the torch), Ossouli is presenting the viewer with a new way of looking at the events taking place around us.
Solo exhibitions include The Moon and The Sun, Sarv-E Naz Gallery, Shiraz (2019); Ma'h O Khorshid, Shirin Gallery, Tehran, Iran (2019); Flowing Through Time, 009821 Projects, Tehran, Iran (2019); Wounded Virtue, +2, Tehran, Iran (2015); Shirin Gallery NY, New York, USA (2014); Paul Robeson Galleries, Rutgers University. Newark, USA (2012); Imam Ali Museum, Tehran, Iran (2007); Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany (1993); Classic Gallery, Tehran, Iran (2005); Seyhoun Gallery, Tehran, Iran (1989).
Group exhibitions include (Upcoming) All About Eve, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, UK (2025); Present Illuminations, Bavan Gallery, Dubai, UAE (2024); Cypress Eternally Unbound, Fiuz Gallery, Kashan, Iran (2023); Soft Edge of the Blade Vol. 2, Zaal Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada (2023); Event: Iranian Contemporary Art and Shifting Realities, Bavan Gallery, London, UK (2023); Group Exhibition, +2, Tehran, Iran (2023); Realism, No. 9 Cork Street, Presented by Dastan Gallery, London, UK (2023); The First Fertile Element, A Gallery, Tehran, Iran (2022); Season of Flower, Taalaar Space, Tehran (2022); Resize, Artibition Gallery, Tehran (2022); Sanctuary, Azad Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran (2021); Iraj’s continuance, Iraj Zand Foundation, Tehran, Iran (2021); Spiting Plato Re Architecture, Inja-Gallery, Tehran, Iran (2020) ; Solace of Lovers, Tiroler Landesmuseen, Innsbruck (2020); Ms & Mr. Artist, Farmanfarma Gallery, Tehran, Iran (2019); Me, Kabood Atelier Art Gallery, Tabriz (2019).
Highlights and Awards
Farah Ossouli founded DENA, a female art collective that has organized over 30 exhibitions since 2001. She is a member of the Society of Iranian Painters. Ossouli’s work can be found in Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), London, UK; Mathaf: Arab; Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar; The British Museum, UK; Art Gallery WA, Perth, Australia; The Ducal Palace Museum of Mantua, Italy, Farjam Collection, Dubai, UAE; Kerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Iran; Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck, Austria; Los Angeles; County Museum of Art (LACMA), USA; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA, Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi, India; Tropen Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany.