Hossein ShirAhmadi: Mujo

at Doost Gallery

The exhibition Mujo presents Hossein ShirAhmadi’s latest body of work—pieces centered on the human body. The title is derived from the Japanese concept Mujo, a term that refers to impermanence and transience, forming the essence of the artist’s contemplation in these works.

Using pencil, colored pencil, and watercolor, ShirAhmadi creates a space that is both poetic and precise. Soft lines, transparent colors, and minimal compositions lend the bodies a meditative quality. Everyday postures—sitting, reclining, or lying down—emerge in calm, pared-down frames, holding fragile moments on the verge of disappearance.

All the figures in this series are women. For the artist, the female body becomes a site for the direct experience of beauty and mortality, yet it extends beyond this. These bodies, through their meaningful and self-aware presence, open up a renewed perspective on women’s presence—one where silence and solitude are transformed into realms of meaning and strength.

For ShirAhmadi, working with a live model is essential. Direct engagement with the body generates an experience of being in the moment—a moment that carries both beauty and signs of decay. This living presence ties the act of seeing to a deeper sense of contemplation.

The colors are often gentle and fleeting, yet punctuated by touches of vivid reds or deep blues that introduce subtle tension. This interplay between calm and unease, silence and drama, lends the works a layered complexity.

In this series, Mujo manifests as impermanence across many levels: in the body, in perception, in presence, and in meaning.

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Doost Gallery is honored to present this collection by Hossein ShirAhmadi—an artist whose visual language moves between simplicity and depth, inviting the viewer to a quiet, attentive, and empathetic act of seeing.