Biography of Jalal Shabahangi

Jalal Shabahangi; prominent contemporary Iranian graphic artist, painter and sculptor

Jalal Shabahangi (December 16, 1935 – August 17, 2023) was a creative and stylistic artist in the visual arts of Iran, known as a graphic artist, painter, sculptor, and professor at the University of Tehran. He was born in Tehran and completed his education at San Jose State University, California. He holds a master’s degree in graphic design and contemporary painting, as well as a bachelor’s degree in graphic advertising.

From 1968 to 2002, Shabahangi was a faculty member of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran, and also taught at Soureh, Shariati, Shahed, and Al-Zahra Universities. He was considered one of the pioneers of contemporary Iranian painting and graphic art, and was a member of the Graduate Education Council of the Visual Arts Department at the University of Tehran. He was also the representative of the University of Tehran in the plans and programs of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology in the art sector and was known as a permanent member of the Iranian Academy of Arts.

In addition to painting and graphics, Shabahangi was also active in the field of sculpture and created glass volumes (Blowing Glass) in Iran and Murano, Italy, whose works in this field have many fans around the world. This experience in glassmaking also influenced his painting style, giving his works a special transparency and fluidity.

He held his first exhibition in 1970 at the University of California, Berkeley, and his second exhibition in 1972 at the Qandriz Hall in Tehran. Throughout his artistic career, Shabahangi exhibited numerous works in solo and group exhibitions both inside and outside the country, each of which was a testament to the breadth and depth of his artistic activities. In 2001, he was honored at the 7th Iranian Graphic Biennial, thanks to Morteza Momayez, and the Academy of Arts held a special exhibition in 2018 in honor of his half-century of artistic activity.

Shabhanghi’s paintings focus primarily on three key elements: garden, plain, and tree, which serve as cues for the rhythm, structure, and composition of objective and subjective space. His works typically feature colorful, well-constructed landscapes of rolling hills and scattered trees in the distance, often reminiscent of the desert regions of Iran, although they are not limited to a specific geographical location. His painting style is characterized by a flat surface, a calm rhythm, and curved lines, a combination of positive and negative space, and vertical and horizontal relationships.

One of the distinctive features of Shabahangi’s works is the special attention paid to the desert atmosphere, which is seen as the main theme in many of his paintings. The desert in his works is not heavy but transparent, poetic and beautiful, and has a deep connection with the tradition of Iranian painting, where the sense of descent and ascension are intertwined. His paintings offer a fresh experience of the desert; one full of peace, beauty, and complex layers that invite the audience to contemplate the secrets of the earth and interact with nature.

Art critic Mehdi Hosseini has said in describing Shabahangi’s works: “His paintings are composed of very deliberate, flat, and expansive forms, which demonstrate the artist’s nobility and knowledge of form and space. Expansiveness, silence, and tranquility are the defining features of these works; a silence that calms the audience and a space that returns to the painter’s creativity and mind.

Jalal Shabahangi is considered one of the prominent figures of contemporary Iranian art due to his loyalty and insistence on a specific method and expression in art. After years of artistic endeavor and activity, he passed away on August 17, 2023.