Mohammad Fasoonaki

Mohammad Fasunaki, a painter, was born in 1943 in Tabriz, Iran. As a teenager, he entered the Conservatory of Music, where he was first introduced to art; however, following a neighbor’s suggestion, he turned to painting instead and later traveled to Germany to continue his studies. After some time, Fasunaki moved to Italy, where he studied painting for two years at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. Gradually, he shifted from Impressionism to Expressionism. His dynamic use of color and vigorous brushstrokes have since become the defining characteristics of his work. In 1974, Fasunaki returned to Iran and held his first solo exhibition at the Mirak Gallery in Tabriz. Two years later, he organized another exhibition at the Ghandriz Hall in Tehran. In his portraits, he approaches humanity from a unique perspective, seeking to reveal the transformations of the human condition in his own way. Fasunaki is a member of the Berlin Painters’ Association, a board member of the Iranian Visual Arts Association, and has taught at several higher education institutions in Tabriz. The human figure occupies a central place in his art and never leaves his canvases. What unfolds on his paintings’ surfaces is a network of intertwined human forms, symbolically portrayed through his magical brushstrokes. His portraits depict the people and folklore of Tabriz’s culture, rendered within an expressive and often protest-like atmosphere that mirrors his inner emotions—signs of the chaos and turmoil surrounding him. Most of Fasunaki’s subjects are inspired by the people of Azerbaijan—ordinary men and women he has observed in the streets and marketplaces. He exposes the hidden truths within human faces by moving beyond realism and creating psychological and visual suspension. The human figures in his works often appear in bold, sculptural forms, reflecting a wide range of emotions and personalities: deformed, wistful, sorrowful, anxious, or angry—yet at times innocent and vulnerable, and at others, terrifying and haunting.