Born: 1964 Shiraz, Iran
Year of Migration to the UK: 1978
Biography
Contemporary artist Soheila Sokhanvari was born in Shiraz, Pahlavi Iran, also known as the Imperial State of Iran (now, Iran) in 1964. Her father was an amateur painter and a professional tailor and dressmaker, while her mother worked as a literature lecturer. In 1978, at the age of 14, Sokhanvari moved to the UK to pursue her studies. The family had originally planned to send only Sokhanvari’s older brother abroad for education; however, Sokhanvari herself expressed a desire to go as well. Given that her father was a feminist, as she stated, he agreed to this request (Buck, 2023). Both siblings moved abroad, while their parents and two other siblings remained in Iran.
Sokhanvari first trained as a scientist, completing her Biochemistry degree in 1986 and afterwards, she secured a position as a Research Scientist at Cambridge University. However, in 2001, she decided to change her career path and began retraining in the arts. In 2005, she acquired her BA in Fine Art & Art History from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, followed by a PgDip in 2006 in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art and Design, London. She further pursued her passion for art by obtaining an MFA in Fine Art in 2011 from Goldsmiths College, University of London. She was subsequently awarded an artist in residence programme in 2017 at Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur, India and, a year later, in 2018, she was a recipient of the Derek Hill Foundation Scholarship at the British School in Rome.
Iranian by birth, but now a British artist, Sokhanvari’s dual identity significantly influences her work. Her diverse multimedia creations adopt a variety of methodological approaches, yet they commonly examine the current political landscape, especially the state of Iran before the revolutionary events in 1979. As Sokhanvari explains in her Artist Statement, she is: ‘drawn to events and traumas that linger in the collective consciousness or cause mass amnesia. In her Iranian crude oil on paper drawings, faced with political events and traumas of contemporary Iranian politics that are impossible to represent, she plays with meaning and materiality by allowing the medium to carry the political message,’ (Sokhanvari, 2014). By using crude oil, a non-traditional art medium, Sokhanvari’s drawings articulate society's complicated ties to this key modern commodity and its place in societal, political and ecological concerns. She is drawn to allegorical and symbolic representations as well as to the style of magic realism which, as Sokhanvari explains, ‘allows slippage in meaning that resists the totalitarian discourse of all kind,’ (Sokhanvari, 2014). In terms of technical execution, she uses the age-old method of egg tempera painted onto calf vellum with a squirrel-hair brush and grinds colour pigments herself, thus honouring the tradition of Persian miniature painting. Sokhanvari also creates artworks from found objects, such as old passports or taxidermy items. Her work is deeply influenced by the philosophies of William Morris, the Victorian founder of the Arts & Crafts Movement.
Since retraining as an artist and setting up her studio at the Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridgeshire, in 2013, Sokhanvari has consistently exhibited her work in the UK, Europe, and the Middle East. In 2018, she was selected by the Tate and the Mayor of London as one of the 22 artists for a public art project at Victoria Station in central London. Her UK solo presentations include: Soheila Sokhanvari: Heart of Glass held at The New Art Gallery Walsall (2017) and Rebel, Rebel displayed at The Curve, Barbican Centre, London (2022). In the latter, she displayed miniature portraits within an immersive space, which she had hand-painted and which were inspired by traditional Islamic geometric design, as a homage to female icons from pre-revolutionary Iran (1925–79). Currently, Soheila Sokhanvari lives and works in Cambridge, England. Sokhanvari’s art is held in several UK public collections, including the Government Art Collection, London; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; The Women’s Art Collection, Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge; Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, and The New Art Gallery Walsall.
Related books
- Louisa Buck, ‘Soheila Sokhanvari: the Former Scientist Using ‘Alchemy’ to Bring Together Iranian and Western Culture’, The Art Newspaper, 6 January 2023
- Jordan Amirkhani et al, Soheila Sokhanvari: Rebel Rebel (London: Barbican Art Gallery, 2022)
- Katy Shahandeh, ‘Rebel, Rebel: an Ode to Iranian Women's Spirit of Resistance Across Generations’, The New Arab, 21 October 2022
- Jonathan Jones, ‘Soheila Sokhanvari: Rebel Rebel Review – Vivacious Paintings of Liberated Iranian Womanhood’, The Guardian, 7 October 2022
- Tony Ellwood, ed., Triennial 2020 (Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2020)
- Natasha Hoare and Roxie Warder, Champagne Life (London: Saatchi Gallery, 2015)
Public collections
- Government Art Collection
- Pallant House Gallery
- The New Art Gallery Walsall
- Women’s Art Collection, Murray Edwards College
Related organisations
- Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge (Student)
- British School at Rome (Scholarship recipient)
- Chelsea College of Art and Design, London (Student)
- Goldsmiths, University of London (Student)
- University of Cambridge (Researcher )
- Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge (artist)
Related web links
- Anglia Ruskin University alumni network
- Apollo Magazine, In the studio with Soheila Sokhanvari, 2023
- Artist's website
- Art Newspaper, 'Soheila Sokhanvar, the former scientist....'
- Axis website, New Art Highlights, 2017
- Burlington Contemporary, 2023
- British Art Network
- Downing College, University of Cambridge, 'We could be heroes' exhibition 2023-24
- Jerwood Arts, Project Space, Soheila Sokhanvari, Paradise Lost
- Lightbox, Soheila Sokhanvari and Hilary Floe in conversation
- 'Rebel, Rebel, Barbican, 2022
- Soheila Sokhanvari, 'Heart of Glass', New Art Gallery Walsall
- SOAS, In conversation, Haydeh Changizian and Soheila Sokhanvari, 2023
- Wysing Arts Centre, studio artists
Selected exhibitions
- Soheila Sokhanvari: We could be heroes (solo show), Downing College, University of Cambridge (2023-24)
- Dastan Gallery: Realism (group exhibition) Frieze, No. 9 Cork Street, London (2023)
- Rebel Rebel (solo exhibition), The Curve, Barbican Centre, London (2022–23)
- The NGV Triennial (group exhibition), National Gallery Victoria, Melbourne (2020–21)
- Enough Is Definitely Enough (group exhibition), Pineapple Black Gallery, Middlesbrough (2020)
- Addicted to Love (solo exhibition), Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London (2019)
- The World Without Us (group exhibition), APT Gallery, London (2019)
- December Mostra (group exhibition), British School at Rome, Rome (2018)
- Soheila Sokhanvari: Heart of Glass (solo exhibition), The New Art Gallery Walsall (2017)
- Boogie Wonderland (solo exhibition), Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London (2015)
