Shahroud Ghahani is an Iranian-Australian visual artist based on Gadigal land. Her artworks bridge together rich images from disparate cultures and her experiences of them.
She holds a Master of Art from the University of New South Wales ,Arts,Design and Architecture and has had her work exhibited in galleries across Sydney.
Her practice explores representations of the female body and themes of beauty, the grotesque, and identity within Eastern and Western traditions.
Her art is also inspired by explorations of metaphysical subjects. She interweaves dreamscapes, liminal and imaginary spaces, displaced objects and allegorical imagery.
She is the winner for the 2024 Grace Cossington Smith Biennial Art award in the local artist category in 2024. She was a finalist in Gosford Art Prize 2023 (Commendation award), Fisher's Ghost Art Prize 2022 and 2023, Flow , Contemporary Art Prize 2023, CUT.N.POLISH( Carriageworks artist market) 2022, 2023, Arts in the Valley Art Prize, 2021, Hawkesbury Art Prize 2021, and a finalist for the 2018 and 2019 Kudos Emerging Artist Award . She is currently a resident artist at the Primrose Park Art Studio a program managed by North Sydney Council.
EDUCATION
2017 – 2021 Master of Arts (Distinction) University ofNew South Wales, Arts and Design
2016 Certificate IV inArts and Cultural Administration, TAFE NSW, Meadowbank
2014– 2015 Open Studio Practice, Painting, Meadowbank TAFE, Sydney, NSW
2001 Graduate Diploma, New Media, University of Technology Sydney
1989 Bachelor of Design (VisualCommunication), University of Technology Sydney
1985 Bachelor of Fine Arts, TehranUniversity, Faculty of Fine Arts, Iran
AWARDSAND ACHEIVEMENTS
2024 Winner local artist award, Grace Cossington Smith art award
2023 Commendation Award, Gosford Art Prize
2023-2024 Recipient of North Sydney Creative Grant, Arts and Culture, Sydney
2022 UNSW Facultyof Art and Design, Dean's List Achievement award
2015 NAVA Ignition Award, Awarded for Excellence in VisualArts
2009 Premier’sAward, Awarded for excellence in Illustration and Design
2010 Third Place -Certificate of Creative Excellence, U.S. International
Film and Video Festival, Illustration and Animation
FINALIST IN ART PRIZES
2024 Grace Cossington Smith National Biennale Award
2023 Fisher’s Ghost Art Prize, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown, NSW
2023 Flow, Contemporary watercolour Art Prize, Wollongong Art Gallery
2023 Gosford Art Prize, Gosford, NSW
2022 Fisher’s Ghost Art Prize, Campbelltown Arts Centre, NSW
2022 Arts in the Valley, Kangaroo Valley, NSW
2021 Hawkesbury Art Prize, Purple Noon Gallery, Freemans Reach, NSW
2021 Project 2060 : Homeward Bound, The Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability, Sydney, NSW
2019 8 x 10 Annual Show, Corner StoreGallery, Orange NSW
2019 Kudos Emerging Artist + Designer Award, Sydney, NSW
2019 ABSTRACT, Corner Street Gallery, Orange,NSW
2018 KudosEmerging Artist + Designer Award, Kudus Gallery, Sydney, NSW
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Labour of Entanglement, WindowGallery, North Sydney, NSW
2023 Remnantsof a Dismantled State, First Draft Gallery Sydney, NSW
2023 TheGoddesses of the wild Orient, AIR Space Projects, Sydney, NSW
2023 Of all the muted flowers, Digital Gallery, The Connection, Rhodes
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Grace Cossington Smith NationalBiennale Award
2023 Flow, National ContemporaryWater Colour Prize, Wollongong Art Gallery
2023 Gosford Art Prize, Gosford, NSW
2023 A different kind of a place, Chrissie CotterGallery, Sydney, UNSW
2023 Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney, NSW
2023 Cut.n.Polish, Carriageworks,Sydney, NSW
2022 Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney, NSW
2022 Arts in theValley, Kangaroo Valley, Sydney, NSW
2022 Cut.n.Polish, Carriageworks,Sydney, NSW
2022 Incognito ArtShow, Surry Hills, Sydney, NSW
2021 A&D Annual, The majesty of the rainbow will wash away this lustreless melancholy, UNSWArt,
Design and Architecture, Annual Graduation Show, UNSW Galleries, Sydney, NSW
2021 Hawkesbury Art Prize, PurpleNoon Gallery, Freemans Reach, NSW
2021 Project 2060 : Homeward Bound, CoalLoader, Sydney, NSW
2020 La Vie En Rose, Art Space, The Concourse,Chatswood, NSW
2020 ABSTRACT Group Exhibition, Corner Store Gallery, Orange, NSW
2019 Encountering, UNSWAD, MA, Gaffa Gallery,Sydney, NSW
2019 1200k West, AD Space, Fowlers Gap ArtResidency, Sydney, NSW
2019 Tales of Lyrebird, Sydney, The Shop Gallery, Glebe, NSW
2019 Kudos Gallery,Emerging Artist Awards Sydney, NSW
2019 Corner Store Gallery 8 x 10 Annual Show, Orange NSW
2018 Kudos Gallery,Emerging Artist Awards, Paddington, NSW
2017 Out of Blue, Wallarobba, Hornsby Cultureand Art Centre, Sydney, NSW
2017 Art trail Open Studio,Lyrebird Arts Community
2016 See/Saw, See Gallery, Meadowbank TAFE, Sydney, NSW
2015 Brush with frame, See Gallery, Meadowbank TAFE, Sydney, NSW
RESIDENCIES
2020 – 2024 Resident Artist,Primrose Park, Artist Studio Program, North Sydney Council,
2019 Group residency, Fowler’s GapArid Zone Research Station, UNSW
COLLECTIONS
University of New South Wales Art Collection
Private Collections, Australia, USA, France, Iran
LINKS AND PUBLICATIONS
Art Collector Magazine
https://artcollector.net.au/grace-cossington-smith-biennial-art-award-honours-three-artists/
The Articulate Brief, Art Bulletin, issue 102
https://thegoldenmean.cmail20.com/t/j-e-sdyutid-dthujiykhk-r/
Creative Road Art Projects, PublicArt | Placemaking | Cultural Strategy
https://www.instagram.com/p/C4b8Llnh2ul/
Inner West Council
https://www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/live/living-arts/local-creatives/shahroud-ghahani
First Draft
https://firstdraft.org.au/program/remnants-of-a-dismantled-state
North Sydney Arts and Culture
https://www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au/homepage/159/current-exhibitions
https://events.humanitix.com/artists-talking-about-art-shahroud-ghanini-for-international-womens-day
Grace Cossington Smith Gallery
https://www.gcsgallery.com.au/gcs-art-award
Wollongong Art Gallery
https://wollongongartgallery.au/exhibitions/flow-watercolour-prize-2023
Digital Gallery, Canada Bay
https://www.canadabay.nsw.gov.au/community/facilities-and-venues/the-connection/the-digital-gallery
North Sydney Quarterly Newsletter_March 2024, Print format
CATALOGUES
Gaffa Gallery, Encountering,2019, p.11, p.12, ISBN 978-0-7334-3892-9
Grace Cossington Smith Art Prize 2024, National award supporting contemporary Australian Artists P.48 and 49
Arts in the Valley https://www.artsinthevalley.net.au/_files/ugd/3d2021_c967b967868a405da845ae7b30cf8d63.pdf
Fishers Ghost Art Prize https://c-a-c.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/FGAA-2023-Catalogue_updated.pdf
PUBLIC TALKS
2023 , Artist Talk, Air Space Projects
2023, Artist Talk, First Draft, Sydney
2024, Artist Talk, Stanton Library,North Sydney