Davood Emdadian was born in 1944 in Tabriz. From 1963 to 1965, he studied at the Mirak School of Fine Arts. He held his first unofficial exhibition at the school's hall upon finishing his studies. In 1966, Emdadian moved to Tehran and enrolled at the Tehran School of Decorative Arts. In 1974—four years after receiving his bachelor's degree—he held his first solo exhibition at Seyhoun Gallery.

In 1975, Davood Emdadian received a scholarship and spent about a year at the Cité des Arts in Paris. He returned to Iran in 1976 and held an exhibition at the Iran-America Cultural Society's Poop Gallery. In 1977, he returned to Paris again and participated in a printmaking apprenticeship at the École des Beaux-Arts from 1980 to 1981.

Throughout his career, Emdadian participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions, including a late solo exhibition at the Boulogne-Billancourt Municipal Museum in 1993. Davood Emdadian passed away in 2004 in Paris.