About Artist

Amirhadi Shirzadi, an artist and researcher born in 1996 in Iran, has primarily developed his creative activities through the medium of photography. Nonetheless, depending on the needs of each idea or narrative, he works with a wide range of artistic media, from sculpture and sound to text, video, and poetry. The conceptual foundation of Amirhadi’s work is based on representing narratives in which he finds himself situated. The stories he tells are largely derived from the lived experience of his community. Therefore, in this narrative logic, the artist consistently challenges the boundaries between the narrator and the narrated, often placing himself as part of the narrative alongside the characters of the story, or essentially shaping the story based on his own experiences or emotions. This approach facilitates a connection of shared lived experiences between the artist and the audience.

A significant portion of Amirhadi’s creative body of work has been developed within the geographical context of Iran. Generally, he positions himself as a mediator to engage with larger narratives that are primarily rooted in the concerns of his people, arising from living in the socio-political landscape of Iran over the past decade.

For Amirhadi, the idea and narrative content of a work take precedence over the material or medium used. His creative process is such that initially, the foundation of the idea and narrative content are formed and refined in his mind. The next stage is an experience-based research process, where the artist strives to explore various dimensions of the subject and immerse himself in the realm of the story he envisions. His academic experiences as an interdisciplinary researcher in the humanities enable him to scrutinize different aspects of his idea from various perspectives. At this stage, it is gradually decided which artistic medium or media have the capacity to fully represent the narrative that has been formed in his mind. Understanding the nature and limitations of each medium often leads Amirhadi to employ multiple media simultaneously in his art projects, allowing him to represent different dimensions of the narrative through each medium.