How "Young Persian Artists" Heralds a New Wave of Iranian Art

Image courtesy of Mahsa Mergenthaler-Shamsaei

Mahsa Mergenthaler-Shamsaei is a shipping lawyer, living in Switzerland, who moonlights as the founder of Young Persian Artists (YPA). YPA is a platform to highlight young artists from Iran and to bring their work to the attention of art lovers and critics abroad. In particular, the project aims to redefine largely flawed international misconceptions towards contemporary Iranian art. "In fact many of the artists labeled as contemporary (i.e. alive) are considered as ‘old-masters’ in Iran itself,” Mergenthaler-Shamsaei says, which is why she instead aims to “introduce and distinguish a new wave of Iranian artists who are young and often born after the revolution." In the past two years, the YPA founder has turned her “hobby” into a successful non-for-profit institution that not only showcases many young Iranian artists on the project’s website, but also has resulted in two shows in Berlin curated by Mergenthaler-Shamsaei—a group show in 2015 at Stattbad and now, Tehran-based painter Romisa Sakaki’s first ever international solo show at OPEN WALLS Gallery, Selfies in the City.

http://youngpersianartists.com/