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Born in 1962 in Tehran. Currently lives in Frankfurt, Germany.

        Parastou Forouhar studied at the University of Tehran with the first enrolled class in 1984 after a two year period in which universities closed in order to re-structure education and implement, according to Forouhar, “thorough Islamisation.” Her homeland, Iran, is a constant theme in her work but it is complex and in flux. In her own words: “I can tell you beautiful stories about my homeland, which may not be true.... At some point, I started re-building the idea of my homeland into a fortress of illusions. I search for my homeland by writing words of my mother tongue in soft, rhythmical, inviting lines, remembering the openness and ambivalence of the beautiful Persian patterns that the old masters of past centuries have left to us.” Forouhar applies her studies of classical Persian ornamentation to her work which is always both sensual and violent at the same time. Through photography, digital drawing, installation and sculpture, Forouhar has developed a language that speaks to the contradictions inherent in a world raped by violence yet surrounded by beauty. Furthermore, it examines the production of identity with repressive mechanisms that propagate stereotypes and cliches.
       Parastou Forouhar’s work has been shown in many important exhibitions including Global Feminisms at The Brooklyn Museum in 2007 and Re-Imagining Asia at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin in 2008. Solo exhibitions include the Hamburger Bahnof, Berlin and recently at the Leighton House Museum in London. Her debut solo exhibition in New York will be held at RH Gallery November 20th, 2010 – January 10th, 2011.

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