• The Flowers - Fresco Painting
• The Flowers - Oil Painting
• The Flowers - Drawing
• The Flowers - Print
• THE Moments
• About
• CV

In continuity with my fresco practice, this series was developed according to the principle of fresco, in which paint is applied onto a still-wet plaster surface. The images are then detached from their initial support and transferred onto other surfaces.
For each piece, I developed a specific form. In certain works, this research extends into more volumetric configurations. This process marks an evolution in my practice, opening up new relationships between surface, matter, and space.

• The Flowers - Oil Painting

• The Flowers - Drawing

• The Flowers - Printe

• THE Moments

The Moments series consists of oil paintings and works on paper. These works seek to capture transient moments while articulating both objective perception and lived experience within the flow of time. In this series, time is not merely a subject but a formative force in the process of creation an element made tangible through layering, erasure, and the continual reworking of the image. The project engages with the re-reading of personal and historical memory, fixing visual perceptions in order to open a space for reflection on the nature of the moment and the passage of time.

About

In the series Flowers, my practice is grounded in an ongoing exploration of the relationships between matter, time, and the image, emerging from my engagement with floral motifs in Iranian architecture, where the image operates as a structure for the fixation of time and memory. In my work, the flower departs from its decorative function to become a conceptual sign, embodying a suspended condition between presence and disappearance, persistence and erosion, at the intersection of Iranian visual culture and the Western tradition of still life. My work extends beyond the pictorial surface into structures situated between surface, volume, and space. In fresco, the image becomes embedded in the material, with time physically sedimented within it. Here, the image moves away from representation to become an index of material memory and the passage of time, a presence that simultaneously carries fragility and continuity.

Biography

Mehdi Babaei is an Iranian visual artist based in France. His work is grounded in an ongoing exploration of the relationships between matter, time, and memory, with painting, and in particular the technique of fresco, forming the primary medium of this inquiry. His encounter with the tradition of Persian miniature contributed to shaping an understanding of the image as a space for the suspension of time and the fixation of experience, an approach that continues to underpin his work.In the course of a gradual transition from figurative representation toward still life, the flower in his work has evolved from a visual element into a conceptual sign through which tensions between permanence and alteration, presence and disappearance, crystallize in material and visual terms. His recent research focuses on extending these concerns through free forms and volumetric structures, where the work occupies a threshold between image, object, and space.Mehdi Babaei began his studies in visual arts at Shahed University of Art in Tehran, continued at the École des Beaux-Arts de Versailles, and completed a specialized program in fresco and site-specific art at the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris. He currently pursues his artistic practice in Paris.

CV

2025
EDUCATION
DPROFESSIONAL DIPLOMA IN FRESCO AND & ART IN SITU
National School of Fine Arts of Paris2023
DIPLOMA IN FINE ARTS
The School of Fine Arts of Versailles2011
BA in Painting
Shahed Art University of TehranSOLO EXHIBITION
2025 Encounter Galerie des Beaux-Arts de Versailles (Fine Arts Gallery of Versailles) - France
2023 Night of Creation and Creativity in Versailles, Versailles - France
2019 Moments, O Gallery - Tehran
2010 Solo Exhibition Khaneh- Naghsh Gallery (House of Design Gallery) - IsfahanEXPOSITIONS SÉLECTIONNÉES
2026 The Promises of a Form, Artenae, Wild le lieu, Paris, France
2025 A Drop of Water, Galerie Espace 49, Paris, France
2025 Art in Search of Peace: Resistance, Repair, Connection, United States Foundation,
Paris, France
2025 < DIVINE ORÉE >> Group Exhibition, Trinitaires Church, Metz, France
2024 <<Housemate >> Group Exhibition Baashgaah Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2024 Contemporary Printmaking Exhibition, Versailles, France
2023 SECOND SEASON << December in Montreuil >> Group Exhibition, Paris - France
2020 Khor Art Project - Online Exhibition published on ARTSY, SaradiPour Gallery
2019 Annual Exhibition Selected New Generation, Homa Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2019 Group Exhibition < Seeing Through Each Other >> Saless Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2014 Group Exhibition of Selected Artists - 4th Damoonfar Painting Biennial, Shirin Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2012 Lightness - Selected Artists of Three Editions of the Damoonfar Festival, Aan Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2012 First Annual Painting & Sculpture Exhibition (Year 1) Zemestan Gallery, Iranian Artists Forum, Tehran, Iran
2011 < Progressive Youth 2 >> Group Exhibition, Mellat Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2011 The 5th Young Arts Visual Arts Festival, Hozeh Honari, Tehran, Iran
2010 Young Progressive Artists - First Visual Arts Festival, Mellat Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2010 3rd Damoonfar Visual Arts Festival, Mellat Gallery, Tehran, Iran