Martin Luther King is an icon. He is a symbol of justice and equality. If he were alive, he would have been my best friend. The paintings in this series are about Martin’s personal life which nobody knows much about it.

Farshid Shafiey is a visual artist working in a multitude of mediums, including illustration, animated short films, and paintings. Born in 1969, he grew up in Tehran during the Iranian Revolution and Iran-Iraq war, monumental events that had a direct impact on his art. In his paintings, he explores the chronological agendas of bicultural identity through vivid colors and distorted shapes of humans and objects.

He received his BA from Azad University in 1995 and his MA in Graphic Art from the University of Art in Tehran, in 2001. He has had eight major solo exhibitions and multiple group exhibitions in Tehran and New York. His art has been exhibited in Haft Samar Gallery, Assar Art Gallery, Harandi Gallery, and Homa Gallery in Tehran. His latest group exhibition – Beyond The Ban – Contemporary Iranian Art was held at Susan Eley Fine Art in New York City in 2017.

Farshid produced four short animations from 2000 to 2009 receiving national and international attention and awards. A selection of Mr. Shafiey’s awards include the Experimental Prize from Tehran International Animation Festival (TIAF), Golden Apple Bratislava, First Iranian Literary Masterpieces Illustration Festival (ILMI), Elected Iranian Illustrator of International IBBY – China, Special Prize from Iranian ASIFA for Sidewalk as best short animation film, and multiple Press Awards at the Iranian Press Fair. Farshid has also been nominated for the 2020 Hans Christian Anderson Award. 

Farshid works and lives in Brooklyn, New York.