Born in Kamyaran, Kurdistan/Iran 1979. Lives and works in Iran. The artist studied painting at the Art University in Tehran, and is regarded as one of the most distinct representatives of a new generation of painters in Iran. From an early age on, Ahmadi was drawn towards book and miniature painting that had shaped the Persian tradition of art for centuries, just as oil painting had done in the West. Ahmadi derives inspiration from Iranian secret doctrines and Gnosticism, and the poetic and epic writings that correspond to these. Ahmadi’s virtuoso style of painting, which is reminiscent of gestural abstract expressionism, succeeds in capturing the mysterious and poetic quality of such material. His paintings are powerful and light-footed at the same time. In their tenderness and only faintly disguised sensuality they might border on to what in today’s Iran would be subject to censorship. Yet, paradoxically, they go back directly to sources that are undisputedly a part of Iran’s cultural heritage. Since 2000 his work was shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions, particularly in Tehran, Dubai and Switzerland. In 2015 he was part of the Iranian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.