ArtDayMaahyar CharmchiMe : Maad Gallery in Tehran is currently presenting an exhibition of paintings by Maahyar Charmchi, which has attracted considerable attention from art enthusiasts. The exhibition received an impressive response, with every work sold on the very day of its opening, October 30, 2026 (8 Aban 1405).

After a seven-year absence from Tehran's gallery scene, Charmchi has returned to the walls of a Tehran gallery following several successful years on the Turkish art scene. With his conceptual project, Meat Grinder Symphony, he presented a substantial body of work at Maad Gallery. All 22 paintings, six sculptures, one installation, one video artwork, ten drawings, and one research-based documentary wall featuring ten thinkers were sold. This achievement represents a remarkable record in the current art scene.

According to information obtained by ArtDayMe, the price of Maahyar Charmchi's large-scale works at Maad Gallery is 1.2 billion tomans (approximately $4,380).

Maahyar Charmchi: An Interdisciplinary Contemporary Artist

Maahyar Charmchi, born in Tehran in 1979, is an Iranian contemporary artist, painter, sculptor, poet, and writer.

His professional practice focuses primarily on painting and conceptual art, informed by an interdisciplinary and philosophical approach.

In his works, history, popular culture, violence, identity, desire, power, and social and cultural mechanisms are explored through multilayered images and visual symbols.

Charmchi's artistic approach is grounded in combining painting with literature, philosophy, history, popular culture, and other artistic media. In his works, the image is not merely a subject of representation; rather, it becomes a platform for raising questions about humanity, society, power, violence, and identity.

To date, Charmchi has held eight solo exhibitions and participated in more than 50 group exhibitions in Iran and internationally. He has also been involved in organizing and curating numerous group exhibitions.

During his four years of artistic activity in Turkey, he participated in more than eight major art fairs in the country and held a solo exhibition at Soyut Gallery in Ankara.

Among his notable series are Purple Ribbon, Game, and Chess, Circle, History.

In recent years, he has been pursuing the extensive project Meat Grinder Symphony, a multimedia body of work in which the meat grinder serves as a central symbol and metaphor for transformation, homogenization, and the erasure of individual identity and human distinctiveness.

Beyond painting, the project encompasses sculpture, installation, video art, and performance. His works have also been sold twice at Tehran Auction.

Charmchi has maintained an active literary practice as well, publishing two poetry collections: Thoughts Written for Negar (2011) and Weave Me Beneath Your Tresses (2023).

Maahyar Charmchi's Artist Statement for “Meat Grinder Symphony”

Charmchi has written the following statement for his exhibition Meat Grinder Symphony:

"When an appliance known as the 'meat grinder' was first introduced, no one could have anticipated that this practical kitchen device would eventually become an iconic element: a symbol repeatedly employed by artists and critics.

In its non-culinary meaning, the 'meat grinder' represents a machine that enforces homogenization through coercive power.

It is the product of an identity-erasing mechanism, intended for consumption within another mechanism of identity erasure.

Until now, this homogenizing and identity-erasing symbol has primarily been discussed in symbolic contexts: situations that are deliberate, intelligent, and purposeful, shaped by one or more identifiable individuals or groups.

This body of work, however, visually challenges a different set of mechanisms: mechanisms that are self-generated, instinctive, unconscious, far deeper, and far more terrifying..."

Exhibition Details

Maad Gallery will continue presenting the exhibition until November 20, 2026 (29 Aban 1405), at the following address:

No. 3, Kooh Peykar Alley, Niyaz Zadeh Street, Firouzkooh Street, Shahid Fallahi Street, the end of Zafaraniyeh, Tehran, Iran.

The gallery is open daily except Saturdays.

Visiting hours:

- Sunday to Thursday: 1:00 PM–8:00 PM

- Fridays: 4:00 PM–8:00 PM

Photo: Ariel Charmchi