Biography

Elahe Heidari (b. 1968, Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian painter, art instructor and teacher based in Tehran.

Starting her career during the 1980s, an era marked by the long-standing Iran-Iraq war during which the Iranian art scene was relatively smaller in scale and less public. Elahe began studying under Soghra Zareh, one of the prominent instructors at the time, simultaneously building up her drawing practice by live figure sketching in Tehran’s public spaces, such as parks and city buses. As so, heavily drawn to the psychology behind human expressions and gestures, figures became an ever-present element in her work. Often appearing as minimalist arrangements, both in style and color palette, her work is the result of a deep contemplation on each of her subjects, a naturalist-inspired study of its setting, and an atmospheric expression of silent forces at play.

After years of drawing, she developed her initial painting series by focusing on abstraction and abstract figurative work, a relatively dark palette and a meditative approach to her surroundings. Through the years, she has expanded her style through a unique perspective that combines a suspenseful quiet insight into how she observes the world around her. Elahe’s approach to painting starts with a deep study of her themes and subjects, initially isolating each element from its surroundings and gradually developing her images and compositions by laying a brushstroke at a time and moving from the ground up. Her work depicts configurations of domestic objects, still life paintings, androgynous and female figures and mouthless portraits, all emphasizing a deafening sense of silence emerging out of stifled voices.

Elahe Heidari has been exhibiting her work since 1997, showing at some of Tehran’s most prominent galleries as well as taking part in numerous international exhibitions. In addition to her painting practice, she has been working as a children’s art instructor for over thirty years, developing a unique collaborative style and curriculum over time and working with hundreds of young and young adults over this period. She continues to work and teach at her studio in Tehran.