Issa Shojaei

Born in 1955 in Azerbaigan, Issa Shojaei was educated at the Tehran Institute of Fine Art from 1977 to 1981, and continued his studies at the Mensch Und Raum Institutes in Bochum, as well as the study of abstraction in Cologne, Germany from 1984 to 1987. During his travels, Issa exhibited extensively throughout Europe and Turkey. He now lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

In the classic tradition of the Fauve painters of the early twentieth century, Shojaei achieves a haunting sensitivity in his portraits of enigmatic young women. His instinct for primal moods and, perhaps, the overt tension of form and color to translate persona, provides the emotional affair that takes place between the viewer and the figure. The Shojaei woman is the clandestine female, the arcane seductress, the essential woman engaged in a cultural awakening of her own being. In her awkward gracefulness, she is confident; in her covert silence, she is mysterious.

Selected Exhibitions:

1998
ArtExpo, New York, New York
ArtExpo, Los Angeles, CA
1997
ArtExpo, New York, New York
ArtExpo, Los Angelos, CA
Tresors Int'l Fine Art Fair, Singapore
1996
ArtExpo, New York, New York
ArtExpo, Los Angeles, CA
Tresors Int'l Fine Art Fair, Singapore
1995
Tresors Int'l Fine Art Fair, Singapore
Philadelphia ARt Show, PA
ArtExpo, Las Vegas, Nevada
ArtExpo, New York, New York
1994
Philadelphia Art Show, PA
ArtExpo, Las Vegas, Nevada
ArtEXpo, New York, New York
1993
Aqua Gallery, Toronto, Can.
1992
Soho Open Studio, Toronto, Can.
1991
Grapheteria Gallery, Toronto, Can.
1990
Studio 25, Toronto, Can.
1989
Grapheteria Gallery, Toronto, Can.

Selected Collections:

United States
New Zealand
France
Germany
Australia
Canada
Italy
South Africa