Ali Fakharian

To me, art is an ontological inquiry that poses the question of the very idea of being. Through the work of art, both artist and the viewer can interpret the world in an intuitive manner and are capable to imagine the potential ways of being through a genuine independence of thought.

The effort through my paintings is to create a visual narrative around the concept of being, to pose ontological questions on the meaning of existence and to explore the complex nuances of the human condition. I defamiliarize ordinary objects and events of social life to create a surreal world that metaphorically suggest other ways of being. I juxtapose nature and technology, freedom and restraint, the individual and society, human and alien, sanity and insanity, morality and deviance into unexpected and unfamiliar compositions to convey the deep complexity and truth of the impalpable connections and hidden phenomena of life which are indiscernible to us because of the way we live in the world.

The arrangement of the heterogenous elements and motifs into the places of everyday life forms a mysterious space between the real and the imaginary. The visual elements of these works, from faceless figures and apocalyptic sceneries to high contrast satur...

Master of Arts in Graphic Design, May 2015
Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA

Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design, June 2004
Art & Architecture Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Entrepreneurship at the Margins
Social awareness workshop at Miller Center
Santa Clara University, CA, Oct 2018

Escucha mi voz
International political poster exhibition
Open center for the Arts, Chicago, IL Oct 2018

36th Fajr International Film Festival
Short film and video art category
Tehran, Iran, Feb 2018

Vinyl Art Think
International juried book illustration contest
Milan, Italy, Dec 2017

Bridge International Graphic Design Exhibition
Hebi Academy of Fine Arts
Hebi, China, Oct 2017

Poster Quadrennial Bardejov 2017
International juried poster competition 1st Place
Bardejov, Slovakia, Sep 2017

Mut Zur Wut
International juried poster exhibition
Heidelberg, Germany, May 2017

Todos Somos Migrantes
International juried poster competition 1st Place
Guadalajara, Mexico, Sep 2016

SCAD Secession 2015
Best students design projects showcase
Savannah, GA, May 2015

The One Club Show 2015
Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, Apr 2015

Sfandegan Show
Group illustration exhibition
Hormozan Tower, Tehran, Iran, Mar 2008