Bizhan Bassiri

Bizhan Bassiri, was born in Tehran in 1954 and moved to Rome in 1975. He lives among Rome, Fabro (Terni) and Tehran. His artistic research starts with the use of different materials: papier-mâché, steel and bronze surfaces, lava elements, photographic elaborations. Bassiri is the author of Pensiero Magmatico (1984), Manifesto del Pensiero Magmatico (1984 – 2023) and established the Bassiri Foundation in 2020, which was recognized by the Italian state. In 1981 he started participating in solo and group shows, exhibiting major museums and cultural institutions, among which: Kunsthalle, Vienna (Austria); Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Ghent (Belgium); Centre d’Art Contemporain, Thiers (France); Borholms Kunstmuseum, Borholms (Denmark); Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato (Italy); Arsaevi, Collegiumartisticum, Sarajevo (Bosnia); Villa Medici, French Academy, Rome; National Archaeological Museum, Naples (Italy); BM Contemporary Art Center, Tophane-i Amire, Istanbul (Turkey); S.M.A.K., Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent (Belgium); Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, Perugia; Sala dei Cinquecento, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence; Tehran Contemporary Art Museum, Tehran (Iran); Macro Testaccio, Rome; Ca’ Pesaro – Galleria Internazionale d’Arte Moderna, Venice. In 2017 he was invited as the only artist to represent Iran at the 57th Venice Biennale with the exhibition Tapesh, The Golden Reserve of Magmatic Thought. In 2018 Polo Museale Regionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Palermo presented the exhibition Veglia, curated by Bruno Corà. The plastic works of Bassiri have been exhibited with two distinct paths, respectively at the Palazzo Belmonte Riso and at the Cappella dell’Incoronata. In 2019 he participated in the solo exhibition Meteorite Narvalo, curated by Gabriella Belli at Ca’ Pesaro Galleria Internazionale d’Arte Moderna, Venice and Il Nottambulo, curated by Bruno Corà, at the National Museum of Iran in Teheran. In 2022 he participated in the group exhibitions Il Numinoso, curated by Giorgio Verzotti at BUILDING and Basilica di San Celso, Milan, and in the exhibition La Luce del Nero, curated by Bruno Corà, at Fondazione Burri, Ex Seccatoi del Tabacco, Città di Castello (Perugia). Bizhan Bassiri regularly shows his work in galleries and museums in Europe, United States and Asia.