EN
Eliot Shahmiri positions himself as a landscape painter whose practice draws upon the aesthetic traditions of European Romanticism, Surrealism, fantasy, and science fiction. His work engages with photographic sources, press imagery, and the historical legacy of landscape painting as points of departure. Through processes of quotation, repetition, and distortion, he constructs dreamlike compositions and series that challenge conventional perceptions of space and temporality. Situated at the intersection of past and future, his work adopts a mystical dimension that responds to contemporary events, interrogating uncertain trajectories while invoking religion, the divine, and spiritual forces of nature in relation to human intervention.
Shahmiri works primarily with gouache for his small-scale works on paper and employs traditional oil techniques for his large-format paintings. These are executed on linen canvases manufactured in France and stretched on FSC-certified wooden frames. His colours are assembled in France, and he uses vegetal or mineral spirits as solvents. The painter’s studio operates mainly on a self-sustaining photovoltaic energy system, and its roof is linked to a 32-cubic-metre water collector utilized during periods of drought.
Born in Tehran, Iran, Eliot Shahmiri lives and works between Paris and Saint-Maixent-l’École, France. His early exhibitions took place at the Consulat Voltaire in Paris, with a presentation curated by Anne Bourrassé in late 2022, followed by a solo exhibition at the Académie du Climat in 2023 as part of the Anticipation festival.
When reflecting upon his childhood, Shahmiri recounts a somber era defined by profound melancholy. While living in exile with his parents, he was immersed in a deeply religious environment, shaped by the rites of the Assyrian Chaldean Christians as well as a rich Persian cultural heritage, steeped in poetry and sadness. This period was ultimately marked by his mother’s years of protracted struggle and repeated hospitalizations, culminating in her loss to a long and taxing illness.
Against this backdrop, after graduating, Shahmiri pursued studies in fine arts, typography, graphic design, and art direction at the Atelier de Sèvres and ENSAAMA Olivier de Serres in Paris, where he was awarded a study grant for excellence and merit from the Fondation Odon Vallet.
In 2009, he began working at the internationally recognized design studio H5, prior to its Academy Award recognition. There, he collaborated on projects for luxury brands such as Hermès, cultural institutions including the RMN–Grand Palais and the Centre Pompidou, and art, fashion, and design publications such as Please and Intramuros, as well as artists within the music industry. In 2013, Shahmiri founded Policestudio, which he directed for over a decade. Through this platform, he led a multidisciplinary team and developed international projects for a wide range of clients, including Air, Audi, Daft Punk, Hennessy, Grupo Habita, Hervet Manufacturier, Louis Vuitton, LVMH, the high-end watchmaker Richard Mille, the music label Record Makers, and the fine jewelry house Van Cleef & Arpels, among others.
FR