CHEMNITZ.- Following the success of Reza Derakshani: The Breeze at Dawn at Sophia Contemporary Gallery and a solo exhibition at the prestigious State Russian Museum, St Petersburg earlier this year, Reza Derakshani opened his first solo exhibition in Germany at the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz. This new exhibition includes recent works by the artist as seen at Sophia Contemporary Gallery this spring and runs from 21 August to 16 October 2016.

Reza Derakshani is one of today’s most celebrated living Iranian artists. A young prodigy, Reza Derakshani held his first solo show at the age of 19 at the Ghandriz Art Gallery in Tehran in 1971, going on to exhibit internationally. His work features in many public art collections including the British Museum, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.

Representing Reza Derakshani, Sophia Contemporary Gallery is a contemporary art gallery founded by Vassili Tsarenkov, Lali Marganiya and Lili Jassemi showcasing a diverse roster of emerging and established artists from around the world working in a variety of media.

A bilingual catalogue in German and English will be published to accompany the exhibition, with texts by Ulrich Krempel and Ingrid Mössinger.

Reza Derakshani (b. 1952 in Sangsar, Iran) is a painter, poet, musician and performance artist. He is known both in the Middle East and in the West as one of the most important contemporary Iranian artists.

Derakshani graduated from the University of Tehran in 1976. He continued his studies at the Pasadena School of Art in California, and returned to Iran to teach at the University of Tehran and the School of Decorative Arts. He left Iran in 1983 following the Islamic Revolution and lived in New York for sixteen years. The artist subsequently moved to Italy before returning again to Iran for seven years. He now divides his time between Dubai, UAE and Austin, USA, where in parallel to his career within visual arts, he collaborated with legendary musicians such as John Densmore, the drummer of the Doors, releasing two critically acclaimed albums.

A young prodigy, he held his first solo show at the age of 19 at the Ghandriz Art Gallery in Tehran, going on to exhibit internationally. His work features in many public art collections including the British Museum, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. Derakshani also performed as a musician in numerous museums and festivals such as the Brooklyn Museum and the Montreux Jazz Festival among others.