Khosro Berahmandi
Montreal 45° 30' 11.46" N, 73° 34' 11.30" W Arts Visual Arts Person
Born in Iran in the late fifties, Khosro Berahmandi was raised in Tehran when the Shah was in power. In his early twenties, during his technical studies at the university, he let himself be carried away by the overwhelming sweep of the Iranian revolution and the dream of living in a free Iran. His dream was soon destroyed by the harsh reality of the Islamic revolution. Deeply affected by the loss of his close friends and his ideas, he left his Iran and found refuge and safety in Rome after crossing two countries on foot.
Khosro completed his first painting in his early twenties on the cover of Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment while he still lived in Iran. It would be another 2 years before Khosro once again picked up his paintbrush shortly after he arrived in Canada as a political refugee. He sought an outlet to express the break he felt after leaving home. As he entered a space that was quite different from anything he had previously experienced. He discovered painting gave him a new language to communicate with. Khosro soon enrolled at The University of Western Ontario, studying with Paterson Ewen, an eminent Canadian painter. After a short trip to Montreal, Khosro decided he needed to live in this city that was buzzing with the excitement of an active arts community. Khosro completed his bachelor’s degree at Concordia University. His fervor for visual arts next took him to the University of Paris where he gained a masters degree in Plastic Arts. The charm of Montreal had not left him and he returned to the city in 1995. Khosro’s work has been shown in over 30 exhibitions throughout Canada, the United States and Europe.
Based in Montreal since 1995, he contributes to the cultural life of the metropolis with his exhibitions and painting courses, as well as his involvement with Festival Accès Asie. Europe and North America opened his eyes and his heart to Western and contemporary art through its museums and its teachers. His style of painting is faithful to its origins and its outstanding vision. From Iran, he keeps the cultural heritage and the millennium pictorial tradition of the miniatures that had penetrated his childhood and his adolescence.
For more information please visit: www.khosro.info