Mohammad Ebrahim Jafari

Mohammad Ebrahim Jafari is an Iranian painter, poet, and instructor, born in 1940 in Borujerd. He pursued his Bachelor’s degree in Painting from 1959 to 1964 at the Faculty of Fine Arts. In 1964, Jafari founded the “Center for Teaching the Principles of Visual Arts.” That same year, he began teaching at the Tehran School of Fine Arts, and in 1968 he also took up teaching at the Decorative Arts College. Thanks to a grant for artistic study, he spent one year in Paris. Jafari participated in the Fourth (1964) and Fifth (1966) Tehran Biennials. In 1969 he also took part in the Sixth Paris Biennial. In 1976, he won a prize at the prestigious international “Cannes Summer” festival. His first solo exhibition was held in 1989 at Golestan Gallery in Tehran. Since then, his works have been exhibited frequently in Iran and abroad. Alongside his artistic practice, he has taught at universities, given lectures at art centers, and served on juries for major art showcases. Filmmaker Khosrow Sinaei made the documentary “Crossing the I Don’t Know” about him. In his early works, Jafari was influenced by Abstract Expressionism. In a later period, he developed a series of abstract reliefs using plastofome panels and materials such as white clay, glue, and gouache, in which careful execution was blended with elements of chance. Their circular and curving forms, grooved textures, and earthy tones evoke rural adobe architecture in Iran. Some of his renowned works include “Thirsty Seal,” “Composition No. 7,” “In the Alleys of Childhood,” and the “Letters of Earthy Dust” series. Jafari passed away in Tehran in April 2018. In 2019—following his death—a major retrospective of five decades of his work, titled “Traveling with the Moon,” was held at the Artists’ House in Tehran, and a book by the same title was published. Also in 2019, two volumes of his writings were released: “When You Called the Night Bird and Left,” which collects his songs, and “The Scent of Adobe, the Bird’s Song,” containing a selection of his poetry.