About

"Art is my home. Where there is no door, no barrier, it doesn’t have borders, no walls, no bars! Where I am able to navigate powered by my creativity, to find my true passion and love, my art. I continue my journey in life through my art, where I can fly like a beautiful butterfly, showing my powerful wings made of intense form and color that define and cloak me. This is my habitat, where I live. And this haven has kept me alive."

— Omid Mokri

Omid Mokri is a contemporary Iranian artist. Born in Tehran, Iran in the early 1960s Omid became familiar with art at an early age, his father was an artist and prominent collector of museum level, ancient Persian artifacts. Omid studied and painted old Persian master paintings that were all around him and at the young age of 14 he was accepted into the prestigious Honarestan-e Honarha-ye Ziba art school in Tehran. His earliest works were paintings inspired by the storied Qajar period and Persian miniatures that explored the richness of Iranian history. He began to work with precious materials like lapis-lazuli and gold leaf and mastered the historic art of frame making of this period. The Islamic Revolution of 1979 forced him to flee Iran and move to the United States to pursue his contemporary art career. He attended the Rhode Island School of Design and earned a Bachelor's Degree of Fine Art at the California College of the Arts. Afterwards, he spent time in Oakland as part of the rich art scene and enjoyed solo exhibitions at several galleries.

Omid created his most recent body of work while he was incarcerated in a California state prison where he had no access to an art space or supplies. During this incredibly intense and challenging period, Omid foraged for materials to create a visionary body of work. He saved plastic spoons from the prison cafeteria and affixed his own hair to them to create paintbrushes. For pigment he painstakingly ground up colored pencils and mixed them with floor wax. He utilized tea, milk and anything he could find to create. He used his art to humanize and connect to those around him as well as document the mistreatment and racism that he witnessed of those incarcerated. In addition, he made works out of found materials in the prison yard, and transported organic items like grass patches, eggs, and leaves to his cell to create earthworks.

Omid is now living and working in San Francisco, California.