Biography

Iran Darroudi is a revered Iranian painter, director, writer, art critic and university professor. She was born in 1936 in Khorasan to a prominent dynasty. Her paternal family were well-known merchants in the north-eastern province, while her maternal family were caucasian merchants, who travelled to Iran following the Soviet Revolution and took residence in Mashhad.

Darroudi discovered her passion for painting at a young age. After completing her secondary school education, she travelled to France and continued her studies at the University of Fine Arts (École des Beaux-Art). To learn the secrets of successful colour mixing, she headed to the Belgian capital and attained a course in "stained glass" at The Imperial and Royal Academy of Brussels. Darroudi completed her education with a degree in the History of Art at Ecole du Louvre in Paris. 

In 1968 Darroudi was commissioned by the ITT corporation to create an artwork, entitled Iranian Petroleum, on the occasion of the launch of a pipeline from Abadan to Mashahr. The painting generated a great deal of media interest and was published in the likes of Time magazine, Newsweek and Life Magazine -- to name but a few. The artwork was later dubbed "Our Veins, the Earth's Veins," by Ahmad Shamlu, a distinguished Iranian poet.

Darroudi continues to add to her ever-growing collection. To date she has held 60 exhibitions worldwide, and contributed to some 200 group exhibitions across Europe, Central America, Japan and of course her homeland, Iran. 

Following her success in arts, Darroudi took on a new adventure. In 1966 she began to learn directing at the RCL institute in New York City. That's where she met her husband, Parviz Moghadasi, who was also studying television directing at the time. The two began to collaborate with each-other on various projects at a newly established television production company. Over the period of six years, they produced over 80 documentaries about both Iranian and international artists. Her work was consequently recognised by Iran's university of Sharif, where she was invited to lecture the History of Art as an honorary professor. 

Darroudi's lifetime achievements include her 60 individual exhibitions and 200 group exhibitions, art critiques published in various newspapers, colourful speeches in cultural and artistic establishments around the world, some 80 collaborative documentaries, and last but not least an autobiography, "Distance Between Two Dots". 
These are the results of more than 50 years of her work in Contemporary Art of Iran. The same activities that she carried out while rubbing shoulders with great individuals such as Andrew Marlowe, Salvador Dali, Jean Cocteau, Antonio Rodriguez, Ahmad Shamloo etc. 

Today she's hailed as one of the most influential artists in the world, with her artwork displayed at internationally recognised venues such as the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, the Kerman Museum of Fine Arts, the Sa'dabad Palace, the Saheb Gharani-e Palace, Belgium's Ixelles Museum and a number of exhibitions of Contemporary Art in New York. 

Her latest project takes Darroudi back to her motherland, where she has donated some 150 works of art to a foundation named after her to be put on permanent display for the people of Iran. 
 

Individual Exhibitions
1958    Miami Beach Art Centre, USA
1958    Columbia University, New York
1959     Royal Hilton Hotel, Tehran
1959     Farhang Hall, Tehran
1961    Iran-America Society, Tehran
1961   Farhang Hall, Tehran
1963   Museum of xelles, Brussels
1964    Galeria Santa Maria Pizza, Milan
1964    Borghèse Gallery, Tehran
1965    Iran-America Society, Tehran
1969    Negar Gallery, Tehran
1970    Royal Hilton Hotel, Tehran
1970    Sharif Industrial University, Tehran
1972    Goethe Institute, Tehran
1973    Space Gallery 2000, New York
1973    Goethe Institute : Shiraz, Abadan, Mashhad, Isfahan
1973    Drouant Gallery, Paris
1973    Atrium Artis Gallery, Geneva
1974    21 Gallery, Zurich
1974    National Iranian Oil Company, Abadan
1974    Ferdowsi University, Mashhad
1975    Darroudi Gallery, Tehran
1975    Drouant Gallery, Tokyo
1975    La Galleria Gallery, Mexico
1976    Museum of Bellas Artes, Mexico
1976    Heritage Gallery, Toronto
1976    Ferdowsi University, Mashhad
1976    Isfahan University, Isfahan
1976    National Iranian Oil Company, Abadan
1976    Iranian National Television, Shiraz
1976    Alexander Gallery, Tehran
1978    Prime Minister’s Club, Tehran
1978    Intercontinental Hotel, Geneva
1982    Motte Gallery, Geneva
1987    Bailleul Gallery, Paris
1988    Salon Roland Garros, Palais de Chaillot, Paris
1988    Studio Q, New Jersey
1988    Art Decor Gallery, Washington D.C.
1989    First Credit bank, Los Angeles
1991    A.M.O.R.C. Cultural Center, Paris
1991    Iran Cultural Center, Dusseldorf, Germany    
1992    Azadi Museum, Tehran
1993    Sepehri Gallery, Tehran
1994    Art 54 Gallery, New York
1994    United Nations, New York
1995    Barg Gallery, Tehran
1999    Hourian Gallery, San Francisco
1999    Virginia Tech University, Virginia
1999    U.C.L.A. University, Los Angeles
2002    Artists’ House, Tehran 
2002    Museum Of Modern Art, Isfahan
2003    Pegah Gallery, Kerman
2008    Museum of Modern Art, Tehran


Group exhibitions
200 group exhibitions in France, Belgium, Switzerland, USA, Mexico, Australia, Japan, and Germany also exhibitions with Iranian artists in Iran, France, USA, Canada, Monaco, Germany and UAE.


Other activities
Since 1964, a member of International Congress of Artists, Art Critics and Artistic Studies of Rimini, Verrucchio, San Marino, Italy.  
From 1967-1972, producing and directing 1900 minutes of documentary film for television on “Art Appreciation”.
Producing and directing a 55 minute documentary film entitled “Biennial  of Venice 1968 ”.
1970-1972, Honorary professor of “History and Art Appreciation” in Sharif Industrial University, Tehran.
A series of conferences about painting and the role of women in the Iranian history and the contemporary art, and also about her book entitled “ In the Distant between Two Points”.

Conferences
1988 Cultural Society of Iranian Immigrants, Brussels.
1998  The Library of Iran’s Study Center; London
 1998 Virginia Tech University, Virginia
1999   L.A. University, Los Angeles
1999  Berkeley University, San Francisco
1999    San Jose Experts Society, USA  
1999   Kahrizak ‘Cultural Institution’, San Francisco, 
1999  Virginia Tech University, Virginia
1999    Sokhan Society, San Francisco
1999    Sokhan Society, Los Angeles
1999    Iranian’s Cultural Society, Sacramento
1999    Cultural Society of Iranian Immigrants in New Jersey

Publishing
Research on “ The Art of Achaemenians ”, printed in Sokhan and Negin press in 1957 and 1958.
Articles and criticism on painting in Iranian press and Sokhan magazine.
1973  “Iran Darroudi’s Paintings ”, Tehran, first edition
1976  “Iran Darroudi’s Paintings ”, Tehran, second edition by Amir Kabir
1995  “In the distance between two points…!”, Her autobiography, first edition by Ney
2004  “Hearing Eye” Iran Darroudi’s Paintings, Tehran, First edition
2007  “In the distance between two points…!”, Ninth editio