Biography:
Reza Alhosseini is an Iranian Contemporary Painter based in San Francisco, California. He was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. He received his BFA in 2005 from Shiraz Art Institute of High Education in Shiraz, Iran.
Since 2003 his paintings have been included in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Iran and the United States of America.
He was accepted for the Annual Homa Art Gallery’s group show “Selected of the New Generation” in 2006 Tehran, Iran and the 18TH Annual "New Generations" group show at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, United States of America in 2014.
He received his MFA, in painting from Academy of Art University in San Francisco, United States of America in 2015.
He has been accepted to the Society of Iranian Painters (SIP), Oil Painters of America (OPA), California Art Club (CAC), and Bay Area Arts Group.
Artist's Statement
Photo Credit: Khalil Anvar
Painting is a perennial search and exploration of my everyday life. I always start painting with a mood and concept. Then I think about how to create my desired atmosphere and which material helps me to best show it. It is like a warm friendly dialogue between me and my piece.
Creating a dynamic composition with a variety of shapes is what makes my painting successful and suited to my concept. Thumbnail sketches help me to visually play with and arrange the composition. Then I move to a small oil color study and recreate what is most important in this scene at this moment. The studies are based on a scene of the spontaneity of my concept. In the begining, I always think of the bigger shapes with loose brush strokes. Then add the details, and then values. Lights are added at the very end. Then I take the color study and start my final piece.
My style is realistic and while half of my final piece is based on the study in terms of colors, values and shapes, there is always a possibility to change the elements based on my imagination and evolving concept. At some point I let the painting itself dictates the next step.
I believe that there is an inseparable chain between concept and technique and they should correspond to each other in a harmonious way. I mix different techniques and mediums to find the clearest expression in this chosen concept. This effort of expression commences with the beginning of the idea. The concept illuminates for the artist the appropriate technique to be used and is unique to that concept.
Art is a playground to expose the artist’s visions of beauty. That is why we have lots of variations in terms of artist’s styles.
As the American painter Robert Henri said: “No material thing is beautiful. All is as beautiful as we think it.”