Mehdi Rahemi

Mehdi Rahemi, a painter and printmaker, was born in 1979 in Kashan, Iran. He is best known for his exaggerated figurative paintings; however, after his solo exhibition “Swamp” at Artibition Gallery, his artistic approach underwent a transformation, moving away from his previous drawing style. Rahimi studied drawing and painting focused on landscapes and still life for three years in Kashan under Mehdi Asadzadeh, and later studied figurative drawing and printmaking for five years in Tehran with Mehrdad Khataei. He held his first printmaking exhibition in 2008 at the Iranian Artists Forum. For many years, Rahimi taught drawing in Kashan, during which he published two books featuring his collections of drawings and prints. He is also a permanent member of the Iranian Painters Association. The dominant theme in Mehdi Rahemi’s works is the human being. In his early period, humans were depicted as strange, exaggerated figures. This strangeness affected the viewer’s subconscious, prompting them to imagine distinct personalities for these figures. In contrast, his later works differ in approach: while the figures are not realistic, they lack the exaggeration of his earlier period and instead express a more design-oriented and painterly sensibility. A recurring motif throughout his body of work—beyond the centrality of the human figure—is the presence of hands. Hands have always appeared in Rahemi’s works; however, in his later period, they are no longer rendered as linear representations or isolated elements but have become metaphors for the entire body—or, in essence, for humanity itself.