ASHKAN SANEI

Ashkan Sanei (b. 1984, Urmia) is an Iranian painter whose practice explores the poetic tension between structure and spontaneity within abstraction. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the Islamic Azad University of Isfahan in 2008, a period formative to his artistic development and recognition. Early in his career he was awarded First Prize at the 4th Annual Isfahan Contemporary Painting Competition (2004), followed by participation in a group exhibition at the Isfahan Museum of Contemporary Arts (2005). In 2016, he received the Honorary Award at the Third Festival of Experimental Visual Arts, which led to an exhibition at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.

Sanei continued his academic pursuit with a Master of Fine Arts from Tehran Azad University, after which he held his debut solo exhibition at Hour Gallery, Tehran (2011). His international presence began in 2014 with participation in the Allies project in Dubai, followed by inclusion in Good News from Iran at Frank Peche Gallery, Geneva. His works have since been exhibited widely in Beijing, Shanghai, Turin, Basel, and across Germany. He has been artist-in-residence at the Qingyuan International Art Center in China, and his works have been featured in major art fairs including Artissima and Paper Positions. As of August 2022, his paintings have appeared in five Bonhams auctions.

Rooted in abstraction, Sanei’s paintings are distinguished by a refined visual language of linear rhythm and textural cadence. His compositions balance gestural vitality with meditative restraint - a dialogue between expressive mark-making and contemplative quietude. A disciplined use of a limited palette, often dominated by black and white, underscores the artist’s interest in formal purity and material exploration. Sanei’s work reveals a designer’s sensibility for spatial harmony and surface tension, recalling the lyrical abstraction of artists such as Cy Twombly, while maintaining a distinctly personal voice shaped by time, process, and introspection.