Nicky Nodjoumi: Exiled Iranian Artist Still Fights Regimes Through Canvas

Nicky Nodjoumi, born in Kermanshah, Iran in 1942, has spent four decades using his art to oppose authoritarian regimes, a mission that forced him into exile in the USA. After a heart problem in 1969, he traveled to New York for surgery and became involved with the Iranian Student Association, making protest posters against the Shah. He later studied filmmaking at New York University and earned an MFA from City College. In 1981, his Tehran exhibition 'Report of a Revolution' at the Museum of Contemporary Art directly criticized Ruhollah Khomeini, leading to front-page headlines calling him a traitor. He fled back to the USA to avoid capture and execution. His daughter Sara Nodjoumi is directing an HBO documentary 'A Revolution on Canvas' about their quest to reclaim those paintings, still stored in the museum's basement alongside works by Bacon, Duchamp, Van Gogh, and Monet. Nodjoumi's practice uses collages from newspaper images to create political chimaeras, and he recently made posters for women's rights rallies in Iran. He reads the New York Times for images, not words, and believes everything is political. Despite a dark future for Iran, he retains hope for freedom without bloodshed.