TEHRAN-An exhibition of artworks by the veteran artist Taha Behbahani is underway at Art Center Gallery in northern Tehran.

Entitled “Thirty Birds for Simorgh,” the exhibit showcases a collection of bird sculptures created by Behbahani in about 40 years of artistic career, IRNA reported on Monday.

Behbahani, 77, is a famous Iranian sculptor, painter, set designer, TV and theatre director, and a university professor. 

He was born into an art-loving family and learned the basics of painting from his father. He later became a distinguished student of Master Ali Akbar Najmabadi (one of Kamal-ol-Molk's students) at the age of 13.

He went through his high school education and Kamal-ol-Molk Art School simultaneously and then entered the Faculty of Dramatic Art and graduated in set design for theater, television, and cinema.

Later in Paris and Salzburg, he started to study and research in the field of Marionette Theater and its connections to the painting and sculpture of the east.

Upon his return to Iran, he started teaching at the faculty of Dramatic Arts and for some years was the director of the Marionette Theater Department of the faculty. During this period, He directed over 450 educational television programs and two plays for the Festival of Arts in Shiraz. He also designed the sets for famous plays such as “Hamlet,” “Macbeth,” and “The Glass Menagerie”. 

However, he has devoted himself to painting and sculpture since the 60s. He was one of the artists who created a new atmosphere in the painting in the 1960s. By presenting his works; he propounded the Metaphysical Surrealistic School in painting.

Behbahani creates allegorical works that are sometimes similar to surrealism. He often uses the lonely, silent bird with eyes on the road as a symbol of man in a mystical expression in his paintings and figures.

He has participated in 40 different exhibitions as a solo artist or as a member of a group of artists in Iran and abroad. Among them are his exhibitions in Paris in 1993 and 1994, and his exhibition in Venezuela in 1999. Since 2001, he has participated in many group exhibitions in the U.S. 

His paintings are kept in the personal collections of more than 45 American, French, Japanese, Emirati, Dutch, etc. collectors.

He has been a member of the executive board of Iran's National Creative Arts Committee, affiliated with UNESCO, and a jury member in several international exhibitions.

The word “Simorgh” in the title of the exhibition refers to the benevolent bird in Persian mythology and literature. It bears some similarities with mythological birds from different origins, such as the phoenix and the huma. The figure can be found in all periods of Iranian art and literature and is also evident in the iconography of Georgia, medieval Armenia, the Eastern Roman Empire, and other regions within the realm of Persian cultural influence.

Literally meaning 30 birds in Persian, Simorgh is a gigantic wise bird representing the union between the Earth and the sky, serving as a mediator and messenger between the two. 

The legendary creature has been used in Ferdowsi's epic Shahnameh (Book of Kings) and by Attar of Nishapur in his symbolic story of “The Conference of the Birds,” among other literary works.

Behbahani’s solo show will run through May 14 at the Art Center Gallery located at No. 145, North Salimi St., Andarzgoo Blvd.

SS/SAB