Farhad Moshiri was born in 1963 in Shiraz. He is often known for his "jar paintings," and his unique artistic style has captured the attention of both domestic and international art markets.
From a young age, Moshiri developed an interest in art and cinema. This passion continued into his youth, leading him to take up drawing and painting. Encouraged by his father and equipped with design skills, Moshiri pursued this path more seriously. A year after the 1979 Revolution, he moved to the United States to complete his academic education. After finishing his preliminary studies, he enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts in 1981. Moshiri held his first and second exhibitions in Los Angeles in 1987 and 1988. After living in the United States for 12 years, he returned to Iran in 1989 and has continued his artistic career to this day.
In 2008, inspired by the pottery and jars of Shiraz, Moshiri created a series of works that later became known as "jar paintings." Pakbaz describes these jars: "Large images of various types of jars in different colors, with words and sentences—often humorous—written in Nastaliq script on their surfaces. The antiquity and cracks of the jars evoke the ancient tradition of pottery in Iran, while the writings refer to cultural manifestations in contemporary society. By combining visual elements from the past and present, Moshiri attempts to illustrate the relationship between tradition and modernity in today's Iran."
In a 2012 interview, Moshiri reflected on his career: "Actually, I am a painter; my job is all about simplification. Once, while sitting in a taxi, the driver asked what my job was. I said I am an artist, a painter. He asked: How do you paint? At first, I didn't know what to say. He asked, 'Cubism?' I said no. He asked, 'Surrealism?' I said no. He asked, 'Realism?' I said no. He finally said, 'Oh, you are a concept artist.' I said yes. Concept. I work on concepts. Generalization is ridiculous, but I work on concepts. It is not conceptual art; it is a concept."