Biography | Curriculum Vitae | Contact

• Biography

Mahdi Mahdian is a visual artist originally from Iran. He earned his BFA in Painting from the University of Tehran in 2013, where he studied within a modern, post-revolutionary academic context that blended traditional and contemporary approaches. In 2016, he completed a Master’s program at the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts in Ukraine, where he received rigorous training in academic drawing and classical figurative painting. In 2025, he earned his MFA in Visual Arts from the University of Regina in Canada, where his practice evolved into a more expressive and conceptually engaged exploration of self-portraiture.

Mahdian’s current work is rooted in representational painting, with a focus on large-scale, life-size self-portraits that address themes of masculinity, vulnerability, and cultural displacement. By drawing from Persian mythology, historical narratives, and personal experience, he constructs allegorical compositions that fuse technical precision with symbolic meaning. He currently lives and works in Regina, Saskatchewan.

• Curriculum Vitae

EDUCATIONS

2022 – 2025	Master of Fine Arts (MFA), The Faculty of Media, Art, and Performance (MAP), Visual Arts Department, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
2014 – 2016	Master of Fine Arts in Painting, Teacher, Researcher, Department of Fine Arts, Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
2009 – 2013	Bachelor of Arts in Painting, The Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Visual Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

PERMANENT COLLECTIONS

2025, Aug	Saskatchewan Arts Board (SK Arts), Regina, SK — three works purchased for the collection.
2025, Sep	City of Regina Civic Art Collection, Regina, SK — one work purchased and installed in City Hall.
2024, Dec	University of Regina, Regina, SK — Sustainability/Action Plan mural commissioned painting added to the university collection.

SELECTED AWARDS AND GRANTS

2023, Jun	Second prize, International drawing competition, Liberty Organization (IAL) and FILR, Netherlands.
2023, Jun	Research Award, University of Regina, Canada.
2022, Nov	Saskatchewan Innovation and Excellence Graduate Scholarship, Canada.
2022, Sep	UR Graduate Scholarship, University of Regina, Canada.
2022, Sep	Mr. Roland O. Dunlop and Mrs. Annie Dunlop Memorial Graduate Scholarship in Visual Arts, University of Regina, Canada.
2013, Mar	First prize in the painting competition, Loft Island, Qeshm Island, Iran.
2012, Nov	Selected Prize, Mural design and implementation of the First National Festival Fresco, Mashhad, Iran.
2012, Sep	Appreciation of the Environmental Art Festival Pilgrimage and Devotion, Tehran, Iran.
2012, Aug	Selected Jury Award, Paintings Workshop, Twentieth International Book Exhibition, Tehran, Iran.
2011, Dec	Third prize, Drawing, First Visual Arts Festival “Shamseh”, Tehran, Iran.
2011, Aug	First place in the National Festival of “Gray Drawing”, Mashhad, Iran.

LIST OF SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

• Selected Group exhibitions / Art Events

2025, Aug	Nuit Blanche Regina 2025, theme: What We Call Home, Artist (installation), SK, Canada.
2023, Jul	Group show Fresh Paint / New Construction 2023, Art Mûr Gallery, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
2022, Sep	Reunion group exhibition, Gallery KAYAFAS, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
2020, Jan	Art group exhibition, National House of Artists, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
2018, Sep	Drawing group exhibition, AS Gallery, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
2016, Nov	Painting group exhibition, House of Artists, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
2015, Apr	Painting group exhibition, Artlab Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon.
2013, Nov	Paintings of the “new generation selected”, Niavaran Place Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
2012, Aug	Drawing group exhibition, Laleh Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
2012, May	Attendance at Art Expo Saba Museum, Tehran, Iran.
2012, Feb	Painting group exhibition, Hall Art, House of Artists, Tehran, Iran.
2011, Aug	Drawing group exhibition, Sky Gallery, Mashhad, Iran.
2010, May	Group exhibition of paintings at Tehran University, Tehran Gallery, Iran.

• Solo Exhibitions

2025, May

MFA Graduate solo show, Self as archive: Fragments in a Persian mirror, Fifth Parallel Gallery, Regina, SK, Canada.

2019, Nov

Painting and Drawing exhibition, Human and Identity, Homeloft Gallery, Kharkiv, Ukraine.

CAREER-RELATED EXPERIENCES

• Teaching and Academic Projects

Winter 2025	Instructor of “Introduction to Painting” course (University Teaching Fellowship), University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Winter 2024	Instructor of “Two-Dimensional Form” course (University Teaching Fellowship), University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Summer 2023	Sessional Lecturer and instructor of “Introduction to Painting” course, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Spring 2023	Instructor of “Drawing the Human Form” course, University Teaching Fellowship, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
2019	Teacher of painting techniques, Mystery Art Studio, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
2018	Part-time tutor (work with kids and teenagers), Aza Nizi Maza Studio, Ukraine.
2014	Guest lecturer, Ferdowsi University of Art, Neyshaboor, Iran, July.
2012 – 2013	Sessional assistant (Part-time), Arioush Private Art School, Tehran, Iran.

• Curatorial Projects

2024, Sep	Curator of “Echoes of Self: Visual Narratives in Self-Portraits” Group show, Fifth Parallel Gallery, Regina, Canada, 2024.
2019, Aug	Mixed media techniques Workshop, Aza Nizi Maza Studio, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
2019, Feb	Anatomical Drawing Workshop, Neyshaboor University of Art, Iran.
2015, Jul	Figure Drawing Workshop, Ferdowsi University of Art, Neyshaboor, Iran.