Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)'s video: Art At Noon: Shiva Ahmadi - Moving Paintings

Rising Sun artist, Shiva Ahmadi delves into her artistic practice–a journey that began in figurative painting and now includes hand-painted animation–as can be seen in her works on view at PAFA in Rising Sun: Artist in an Uncertain America. Ahmadi's art is deeply rooted in her own life experiences, allowing her to address critical global issues like political oppression, violence, immigration, and women's rights. Shiva Ahmadi (b. 1975) is an Iranian-American multimedia artist who borrows from the artistic traditions of Iran, the Middle East and India to critically examine global political tensions and social concerns. Having come of age in the years following the Iranian Revolution and the subsequent Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, Ahmadi moved to the United States in 1998, and has been based in California since 2015. Ahmadi obtained a BFA in Painting from Azad University in 1998. She then moved to the USA to attend Wayne State University, MI and received a Master of Arts in Drawing (2000) and a Master of Fine Arts in Drawing (2003). In 2005, Ahmadi earned an MFA in Painting from Cranbrook Academy of Arts, MI. Solo exhibitions include: Shrine Room, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, NY (2019), and Ascend by Shiva Ahmadi, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA (2017). Group exhibitions include: Rebel, Jester, Mystic, Poet, Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (2021); Epic Iran, The Victoria and Albert Museum, London (2021); and the 2013 Venice Biennale Small Works Project. Her work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; Asia Society Museum, NY; DePaul Art Museum, Chicago, IL; Farjam Collection, Dubai; and more. Ahmadi is currently represented by Haines Gallery, San Francisco and Gallery Rosenfeld, London. The Art At Noon lectures are supported by the Behrend Family in memory of Rose Susan Hirschhorn Behrend, a former docent at the Academy and great supporter of its education programs.