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.
