Our Artists

Mehrdad Tahan

Mehrdad is a self-taught, award winning artist, living in Christchurch since 1990.
His passion towards painting flourished from a young age and he has been painting and teaching full time for 35 years.
He has practiced the traditional techniques over the years with impressionism having had the strongest influence on his developing style. His focus is mainly on portraiture, landscape and still life, in both oils and charcoals. His works are widely exhibited and has won several awards.
He has been the finalist in prestigious exhibitions, such as Adam Portraiture award, Molly Morpeth Canaday Art award, Cranleigh Barton Drawing Award (Christchurch Art Gallery- Te Puna Waiwhetu), Anthony Harper Award (COCA) and International Artist Award, UAE.
Mehrdad's biography is included in the Concise Dictionary of New Zealand Artist and he was a featured artist in the Best of Worldwide Artists working in charcoal, pastel and pencils (by Kennedy Publishing USA 2006). He was also invited by the Australian Artist Magazine to have an article about the process in portrait painting in 2007 as well as featuring in the NZ Artist Magazine 2014.  Selected artist for
Imago Mundi (Luciano Benetton Collection) Italy, 2016. His works are presented in private collections in New Zealand and overseas.
 
Mehrdad works on commissions and holding regular drawing and painting classes in Christchurch as well as conducting art workshops throughout Canterbury.