TEHRAN – Sculptures by self-taught artist Tavakkol Esmaeili known as Mash Esmaeil will be put on display in an exhibition, which will open at Tehran’s Arte Gallery on Friday.

The exhibit named “Iron Myths” will showcase sculptures Mash Esmaeil made while he was working as an employee at the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran.

Esmaeili was born in Qazvin in 1923. His father was a coppersmith and he spent his childhood in his workshop learning how to form objects.

Later, when he was working in Tehran at the sculpture workshop of the academy, he used to watch works by other sculptors and used to make his own sculptures in his loneliness.

He made iron sculptures, some resembling Persian mythical characters, and he enjoyed his own methods and styles. He died in 1994. 

Veteran sculptor Parviz Tanavoli has once said about Mash Esmaeil, “There are artists in the world who show interest in art based on their talents and create works which find their ways into the hearts of people, and Mash Esmaeil was one of them.”

The exhibit will be running until July 26 at the gallery located at No. 2880, Vali-e Asr Ave near the Zafaranieh neighborhood.

Photo: “Rustam and White Demon” by Tavakkol Esmaeili known as Mash Esmaeil.

RM/MMS/YAW