Pooya Aryanpour (b. 1971, Tehran, Iran) is an artist, art instructor, and university lecturer based in Tehran. Known for his influence on Iran’s contemporary art scene, he is also an interior and studio designer, curator, and artistic consultant.
One of the pioneering artists of his generation, Aryanpour has created a large body of artistic work as well as an extensive discourse and has a wide-ranging influence as an instructor and educator in visual arts.
Pooya Aryanpour started his artistic practice in the mid-1990s, initially focusing on painting. Exploring subject material rooted in the traditions of Iranian culture, symbolism, schools, and styles of narration, storytelling and folklore, Persian calligraphy schools and their impact on artistic traditions, architecture, and painting, his early pieces employed traces of color, abstract forms, and drawing to create mystery and suspense.
Developing his practice, ephemeral forms and lines fused together to create illusions of familiar shapes and structures, including plants, animals, artificial creations, architectural configurations, and impressions of the human body. Such studies led to his three-dimensional pieces, in which he combined practices in architecture, sculpting, and painting inspired by traditional Iranian ornamentation techniques such as mirror-work (Ayine-Kari), adapted to the artist’s vision using a plethora of modern approaches and procedures.
In 2022, Pooya Aryanpour presented the monumental exhibition "Gone with the Wind" at the now defunct Kahrizak Sugar Factory in the southern outskirts of Tehran. His work has been showcased in prestigious museums and institutions worldwide, such as the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA) and the Power Long Museum in Shanghai. Aryanpour has also participated in major biennials, including the 2017 Singapore Biennale and the Tehran National Sculpture Biennial, and has been featured in international art fairs.