Tooraj Khamenehzadeh

Cold Silence

My personal interest in Eastern wisdom and Mysticism led me to study and research it at some periods of my life. I took these photographs on the roads of my various trips to the desert areas of Iran, where the influential Iranian mystics in previous centuries lived and meditated. Benefiting from the concept of process by using film photography technique and breath vapor effect on the lens has a metaphor for the personal complexity and ambiguity of the research path and tries to express my inner feelings of that time.

Tooraj Khamenehzadeh started his artistic practice in theater and then shifted to photography and video art. Today, photography, image-based projects, and sometimes the utilization of his theater background comprise the central part of his works. Born and raised in a region where Eastern Philosophy prevails, drew him towards the study and research mysticism. Like Tarighat for a mystic —mystic’s spiritual pilgrimage— he deals with art and producing artworks as a way of exploration, intuition, subjective experience, and immediate perception of reality, which is ultimately realized in his body of work.

His works are the result of his insights along this path, through which he tries to share layers of various realities with his audience. His approach to different subject-matters is rooted in reality; yet, he mostly makes use of dramatic elements to create surreal representations. His works stem from various social and historical contexts and constitute a whole that addresses broader philosophical and humanistic concerns. The characters of his visual stories raise more comprehensive questions such as death, solitude, apprehension, time, the reason for existence, metamorphosis, crisis, and oblivion.

Khamenehzadeh’s works have been presented in various international festivals, exhibitions, and biennials such as Iran Photo Biennial (Iran), Monnaie de Paris (France), Polyforme Festival (France), Chongqing Photo and Video Biennale (China), International Art Festival (Nepal). His works have also been published in different books and magazines like African Textile Today (UK), PIX (India), Connaissance des Arts (France), and Canvas (UAE). He has also participated in several international artists’ workshops and artist residencies, including Theertha (Sri Lanka), Khoj (India), SaNsA (Ghana), Vasl (Pakistan), and Organhus (China). He received his BS in Computer Engineering from Qazvin Azad University in Iran and his MFA in Photography, Video, and Related Media from School of Visual Arts in New York.

In addition to his activities as an artist, Khamenehzadeh has been on the curatorial and management teams of many arts and cultural projects, including arts exchange programs, artist residencies, exhibitions, and international workshops. He is based in New York.

Artist based in New York

Contact Info
Website: tooraj.studio
Email: tooraj@gmail.com
Education
• 2019 MFA, Photography, Video and Related Media, School of Visual Arts, New York, USA
• 2002 B.S, Computer Engineering, Software, Azad University, Qazvin, Iran
• 2000 16 and 35 mm Film Shooting Course Diploma, Culture Ministry, Tehran, Iran
Solo Exhibitions
• 2019 I’m Not a Song to Be Sung, Pasio, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2014 Apprehension Jungle, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2010 Peripheral Reality, Azad Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2006 I have been here…, Mahe-Mehr Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2004 Captain Mehdi, Aref Gallery, Qazvin, Iran
• 2004 Captain Mehdi, Aria Gallery, Tehran, Iran
Selected Group Exhibitions / Screening
• 2020 Not Just an Image, Visualcontainer TV, December 17-30
• 2020 A Walk in Time, Moinuddin Ahmad Art Gallery and AMU, Aligarh, India
• 2020 FRAMES-2020, Gayoor Art Foundation, Kashmir, India
• 2020 99, Tehran Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2019 Dr. Javad Mojabi from Artists’ View, Sales Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2019 Thesis Exhibition, Curated by Nat Trotman, SVA Chelsea Gallery, New York, USA
• 2019 Ellipsis: Between Word & Image, Museum Galleries Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur, India
• 2018 Having Been There, Azad Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2017 2nd Edition of Chongqing International Photography & Video Biennale, Curated by Bisi
Silva, Chongqing Museum of Contemporary Art, Chongqing, China
• 2016 Landscape, Hepta Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2016 Portfolio, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2016 Mardaa Mard, Lajevardi Foundation, Tehran, Iran
• 2015 The World Viewed, Chapter 3, IGREG Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2014 The World Viewed, Chapter 1, IGREG Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2014 Daily Farm on the New Silk Road, Xinjiang Museum of Contemporary Art, Xinjiang, China
• 2013 By Iranian Contemporary Photographers, Mellat Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2013 A Review of a Decade of Video Art in Iran, Iranian Artists Forum, Tehran, Iran
• 2013 Little Frames, Aria Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2013 Wavy Banners Project, Jutland, Denmark
• 2012 Cycle, Ershad Gallery, Sanandaj, Iran
• 2012 Photo Expo, Saba Cultural Center, Tehran, Iran

• 2011 Presence, Aria Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2009 Voice of Vision, Spéos Gallery, Paris, France
• 2009 Between Hope and Chaos, 30 Years of Iranian Documentary Photography, Monnaie de
Paris, France
• 2009 Separating Myth from Reality – Status of Women, International Art Festival, Siddhartha
Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
• 2009 Grand Hotel, Mehr Gallery, Qazvin, Iran
• 2009 Grand Hotel, Aria Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2008 11th Iran Photo Biennial, Saba Cultural Center, Tehran, Iran
• 2007 5th Annual Image Celebration, Iranian Artists Forum, Tehran, Iran
• 2007 Human, Like This, Zangar Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2005 Subject, Aria Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2005 Sufi′s Dance, Aref Gallery, Qazvin, Iran
• 2005 11th Annual Exhibition of Iran Photographers′ House, Tehran, Iran
• 2005 3rd Annual Image Celebration, Iranian Artists Forum, Tehran, Iran
• 2005 9th Iran Photo Biennial, Saba Cultural Center, Tehran, Iran
• 2004 Barg Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2003 Aria Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2003 Barg Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2003 Qazvin Photographers′ Annual Exhibition, Aref Gallery, Qazvin, Iran
• 2000 The Lost Piece, Shahr Gallery, Qazvin, Iran
Artist Residencies
• 2013 Organhaus, Chongqing, China
• 2011 Vasl, Karachi, Pakistan
• 2009 SaNsA, Kumasi, Ghana
• 2008 Theertha, Kandy, Sri Lanka
• 2007 Khoj, Kashmir, India
Collections
• Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art
Jury Members
• 2018 5th Kooshk Artist Residency Award (KARA 2019), Tehran, Iran
• 2017 Spring and Fall Bemis Residency Program, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha,
USA
• 2016 TADAEX06/NODE Exchange Program, Frankfurt, Germany, and Tehran, Iran
• 2015 2nd Kooshk Artist Residency Award (KARA 2016), Tehran, Iran
• 2016 1st National Qazvin Photo Festival, Qazvin, Iran
• 2014 1st Kooshk Artist Residency Award (KARA 2015), Tehran, Iran
• 2014 4th Annual Exhibition of Isfahan Photo Club, Isfahan, Iran
Honors and Awards
• 2020 Now&After, International Video Art Festival, Moscow, Russia
• 2018 Alice Beck-Odette Scholarship, SVA, New York, USA
• 2017 Alice Beck-Odette Scholarship, SVA, New York, USA

• 2015 ATSA Fellowship Program in Arts Management, Delhi, India and Berlin, Germany
• 2009 POLYFORME Video Performance Festival, Marseille, France
• 2006 2nd Annual Prize of Kaveh Golestan Photo Festival, Tehran, Iran
• 2006 2nd Iran Sea Photos Festival, Tehran, Iran
• 2004 The First Prize of Regional Festival of Film and Photography, Qazvin, Iran
• 2001 Village in Village Photo Festival, Babol, Iran
• 2000 Women in the Mirror of Picture, Photo Festival, Tehran, Iran
• 2000 The First Prize of Qazvin Photographers′ Assembly, Qazvin, Iran
• 1999 2n Student Festival of Film, Scenario and Photography, Tehran, Iran
• 1999 Children Festival, Isfahan, Iran
Professional Affiliations
• Rybon Art Center, Tehran, Iran
• National Iranian Photographers’ Society, Tehran, Iran
• Institute for Promotion of Visual Arts, Tehran, Iran
Curatorial and Management Projects
• 2019 Haft Paykar (Seven Beauties) Group Exhibition, Co-Curated with Natasha Chuk, Mohsen
Gallery, Tehran, Iran
• 2016 1st Res Artis Meeting in the Middle East, Management Team, Tehran, Iran
• 2016 2nd Rybon International Artists’ Workshop, Artistic Director, Tehran, Iran
• 2016 6th Annual Art Contemporary Persbook, Review Committee, Tehran, Iran
• 2015 Art Management Program, Management Team, Tehran, Iran
• 2015 Screening of Art21’s Documentary Film Series, Management Team, Cinematheque of the
Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, Tehran, Iran
• 2014 Evident and Latent, Photography Book, Curatorial Team, Tehran, Iran
• 2013 Visual Dialogue between Switzerland + Iran, Curatorial Team, Iranian Artists Forum,
Tehran, Iran
• 2012 1st Rybon International Artists’ Workshop, Curatorial Team, Tehran, Iran
Professional Activities
• 2018-20 Program Advisor, Kooshk Artist Residency, Tehran, Iran
• 2016-20 Board Member, Res Artis, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 2014-17 Curator and Program Manager, Kooshk Artist Residency, Tehran, Iran
• 2013-14 Iseema, Content Director, Tehran, Iran
Presentations and Talks
• 2020 Panel Discussion, School of Visual Arts Graduate Alumni Panel, SVA, New York, USA, Dec 9
• 2019 Panel Discussion, Haft Paykar Exhibition, Darbast Platform, Tehran, Iran, May 21
• 2018 Panel Discussion, War of Positions: Beauty and the Sublime – The Aesthetics of Culture,
Alwan for the Arts, New York, USA, May 24
• 2018 Open Chat, International Artist Opportunities, NYFA, New York, USA, May 16
• 2018 Lecture, Artist Mobility, and Exchange Programs in the Middle East, Princeton University,
Princeton, NJ, USA, April 10
• 2017 Talk, Flashback on Res Artis Meeting in Tehran, Res Artist Meeting, Danish Art Workshops,

Copenhagen, Denmark, October 25
• 2016 Panel Discussion, The Importance of Residencies in an Artist’s Professional Career, Res Artis
Meeting, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran, Iran, November 23
• 2016 Presentation, University of Maryland, Maryland, USA, October 10
• 2015 Talk, Screening of Art21’s Documentary Film Series, Cinematheque of the Tehran Museum
of Contemporary Arts, Tehran, Iran, July 13
• 2014 Panel Discussion, The Rule of Technique and Methods in Fine Art Photography, 13th Iran
Photo Biennial, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran, Iran, February 15
• 2014 Lecture, About Staged Photography, 3rd Month of Photography of Qazvin, Iranian Youth
Cinema Society, Qazvin, Iran, September 11
• 2013 Presentation, Center for Contemporary Art, Kabul, Afghanistan, October 23
• 2013 Presentation, Organhaus Art Space, Chongqing, China, May 16
• 2013 Panel Discussion, The China that We Have Known, Organhaus-Rybon Exchange Program,
Mohsen Gallery, Tehran, Iran, September 16
• 2011 Presentation, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan, February 23
• 2011 Presentation with Gemma Sharpe, Karachi School of Art, Karachi, Pakistan, February 22
• 2011 Presentation with Gemma Sharpe, Department of Visual Studies, Karachi University,
Karachi, Pakistan, February 21
• 2009 Presentation, Ghana Cultural Centre, Kumasi, Ghana, June 8
• 2009 Lecture, About David Levinthal’s Works, Annual Week of Film and Photography of
Qazvin, Iranian Youth Cinema Society, Qazvin, Iran, February 25
• 2008 Presentation, Hanthana International Art Center, Hanthana, Sri Lanka, February 18
• 2007 Presentation, Gulshan (Aga Manzil), Kashmir, India, November 5
• 2006 Presentation, University of Art, Tehran, Iran, November 15
• 2005 Panel Discussion, Sufi′s Dance Exhibition, Aref Gallery, Qazvin, Iran
• 2004 Panel Discussion, Photography Websites, Iranian Photojournalists’ Association, Iranian
Artists Forum, Tehran, Iran, April 11
Television
• 2015 Interview, Art Residencies, Karane Tele Magazine, Chanel 4, August 15
• 2006 Interview, Fanoos Televisual Magazine, Chanel 4, Iran, March 5
Selected Publications
• 2018 Art and Cultural Exchange Amidst Political Treaty-Making and Breaking, Article by Tooraj
Khamenehzadeh, Kooshk Annual Catalogue
• 2018 Regional Origins and Approaches, Article by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, ZARD Magazine,
Issue 006
• 2017 Awareness and Understating in the Context of Art and Culture, Article by Tooraj
Khamenehzadeh, Kooshk Annual Catalogue
• 2016 Artist Residency, the Art of Residing, and the Encounter of Iran’s Contemporary Art with
International Art, Article by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, Kooshk Annual Catalogue
• 2016 A Platform for Creativity, Article by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, Second Rybon International
Artists’ Workshop
• 2015 A New Chapter in Iran’s Cultural Policy, Article by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, Kooshk Annual
Catalogue
• 2015 Art in New York, Another Version, Article by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, New York Close Up
Screening Catalogue

• 2015 Sticker, Work by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, PIX Magazine, Issue 11 – SURGE
• 2014 Review About Gregory Crewdson’s Works by Tooraj Khamenhzadeh, Istgaah Magazine,
Issue 1
• 2014 Review About Mehrdad Asgari Tari’s Works by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, PIX Magazine,
Issue 8
• 2013 Work by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, Hamshahri Dastan Magazine, Issue 21
• 2012 A Season for Dialogue, Article by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, First Rybon International Artists’
Workshop
• 2012 Work by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, The British Museum Press, Autumn
• 2012 Work by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, African Textiles Today by Chris Spring, Published by
British Museum
• 2011 I Have Been Here, Works by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, Talk Magazine, Issue 14
• 2010 Peripheral Reality, Works by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, AKS magazine, Issue 279
• 2009 Work by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, Connaissance des Arts Magazine, Issue 80
• 2007 Work by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, Creative Photography Magazine, Issue 13,14
• 2007 Video Art, an Independent Media, Article by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, Khabar Anjoman
Magazine, Issue 6
• 2007 Cover Photo, Moj Magazine, Issues 3 and 4
• 2005 Work by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, Canvas Magazine, Issue 1
• 2004 Work by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, Tassvir Magazine, Issue 45-49
• 2003 Mannequin, Works by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, AKS Magazine, Issue 194
• 2003 Introduction to Digital Photography, Essay by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, Doorbin-e Akkasi
Magazine, Issue 17
• 2003 An Overview on Photography Websites, Essay by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, Doorbin-e
Akkasi Magazine, Issues 16,18,19,20,22,24
• 2003 Searching in Internet, Essay by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, Doorbin e Akkasi magazine, Issue
15
Selected Bibliography
• 2020 Within the Spectrum of a Gaze: Tooraj Khamenehzadeh’s Inspired Tableaux Vivants,
Review by Natasha Chuk, Photography Magazine, Issue 06
• 2019 Underneath, it’s All Poetry, Review by Natasha Chuk, ZARD Magazine, Issue 009
• 2019 Art and Cultural People’s Attempts to Distinguish between Culture and Politics, Interview
with Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, by Farzaneh Shahriari, Eghtesad Honar Online Website, May 31
• 2017 Artist Residency; Artists’ Experience in different Cultures and different Environments,
Interview with Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, by Majid Foroughi, 10 Days with Iranian Photographers
Magazine, Issue 6
• 2014 Into the Apprehension Trap, Review by Saleh Tasbihi, Tajrobeh Magazine, Issue 256
• 2014 Apprehension Jungle, Review by Najaf Shokri, Herfe Honarmand, Issue 51
• 2013 Passing through Close Doors, Review by Saleh Tasbihi, Tajrobeh Magazine, Issue 208
• 2007 Suspicious Existence, Review by Hasan Rajabinezhad, Kargah Website, August 15
• 2007 Narrator of Captain’s Loneliness Room, Interview with Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, by Arvin
Ilbeigi, Moj Magazine, Issue 2
• 2004 Critic Review for Three Photo Series of Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, by Mehrnegar Fariborz,
Kargah Website, January 13
• 2003 For the Audiences, Interview with Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, Daricheh Honar Magazine,
Issue 9
• 2001 Lost Piece of Two Young Photographer, Interview, Daricheh Honar Magazine, Issue 2