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Caricature

About

Bahar Movahed is a Board Certified Orthodontist, caricaturist, and Persian classical vocalist. Under the care of a surgeon father and an artist mother, Bahar grew up to be both a dentist and an artist! While in high school, she became fascinated with the style of caricature and has remained committed to the art form since. Bahar started sharing her artwork in various Iranian publications such as Humor and Caricature, Gozaresh-e-Film (Film Commentary) magazine, and Zan (woman) newspaper. She has been trained in various drawing methods, but is most enthusiastic about the pointillism method using Rapid pen and Ink. Bahar has participated in numerous national and international animation exhibitions and festivals. In 2000, she held a private exhibition of her work in the “Iran House of Cartoon” in Tehran. That same year, she published a collection of her portrait caricatures named Noghte Sare Khat (Full Stop – New Line). Bahar continues to collaborate with various Iranian publications to date.

In 2010, Bahar immigrated to the United States to further her education and pursue professional opportunities. She continued her dental education in the US and earned her second DDS degree from the University of California, San Francisco. Soon after, she gained a specialty in Orthodontics and a MS in Kinesiology at the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health. She is delighted to be serving society as an Orthodontist in Southern California now. Nonetheless, she has not forgotten about her identity as an artist and continues drawing caricatures in her free time. As she continues gaining wisdom from her lived experiences, she dares herself to approach the so called “maturity of an artist”.

Method

Bahar’s preferred technique for drawing caricature is dotting (pointillism). The entire silhouette is created by clustering tiny dots. Bahar first learned this method during high school when she visited an exhibition of art class students, and was mesmerized by one piece in particular. It was a purse drawn entirely in dots. She fell in love with the delicate complexity of this method. She began experimenting with this new technique in 1995 and finished a portrait of the famous English comedian, Norman Wisdom. She hesitatingly submitted this portrait to the “Humour and Caricature” magazine and was startled to win their portrait competition. Her success encouraged her to continue working with this art form and her caricatures have gained wide recognition since 1997.

Bahar remains committed to the delicacy of each point while working with the complexity of large-scale drawings. She is quite selective with the characters she chooses to draw. She holds deep respect and does not caricaturize to ridicule but to amuse. She carefully finds the sweet spot with the appropriate amount of exaggeration. While drawing, she becomes captivated by the perfection of each dot. She is often asked about the number of the dots she uses in her drawings. “A lot!” she replies with a smile. For Bahar, this technique is more than just drawing. She finds it to be meditative. While she focuses, she tunes out any difficulties from her daily life. Her drawings are delicate like miniature paintings, powerful like portraits, and realistic like landscapes. Inspired by her artist mother, Bahar deeply believes in the immortality of art. As, time passes, the vitality and beauty in her artwork remains.

Iranian Features

Exhibitions

  • Exhibition of “Lipstick, Pencil and PMS” at, Piracicaba, Brazil, 2011
  • 4th Exhibition of Salon of Humor from Paraguacu Paulista, Brazil, 2008
  • 8th Tehran International Biennial Cartoon Exhibition, Iran, 2007
  • 5th “Golden Smile” International Biennial Cartoon Exhibition, Belgrad, 2006
  • 5th FreeCartoonsWeb (FCW) International Cartoon Festival, China, 2005
  • 7th Tehran International Biennial Cartoon Exhibition, Iran, 2005
  • 1st International Animation, Cartoon and Comic Festival (IACC), China, 2004
  • Exhibition at Stoa, the Cultural Centre of Eastern Helsinki, Finland, 2004
  • 22nd Tolentino International Biennial Cartoon Exhibition, Italy, 2003
  • 1st West North Annual Cartoon Festival, Ardabil, 2002
  • 5th Tehran International Biennial Cartoon Exhibition, Iran, 2001
  • 21st Tolentino International Biennial Cartoon Exhibition, Italy, 2001
  • 1st Solo Exhibition of the portrait caricatures, Iran House of Cartoon, Tehran, Iran, 2000
  • 4th Tehran International Biennial Cartoon Exhibition, Iran, 1999
  • 20th Tolentino International Biennial Cartoon Exhibition, Italy, 1999

Awards

First Prize and Gold medal

5th FreeCartoonsWeb (FCW) International Cartoon Festival, China, 2005

Special Prize

1st International Animation, Cartoon and Comic Festival (IACC), China, 2004

Honorary Diploma and Special Medal

22nd Tolentino International Biennial Cartoon Competition, Luigi Mari Section, Italy, 2003

Awards

First Prize and Gold medal

5th FreeCartoonsWeb (FCW) International Cartoon Festival, China, 2005

Special Prize

1st International Animation, Cartoon and Comic Festival (IACC), China, 2004

Honorary Diploma and Special Medal

22nd Tolentino International Biennial Cartoon Competition, Luigi Mari Section, Italy, 2003

Press

Iran Newspaper - 2006

Jam-e-Jam - 2006

Hamshahri - 2005

Sob-e-Sahel - 2005

Jam-e-Jam - 2004

Shargh Newspaper - 2004

Entekhab - 2003

Bacheha Golagha - 2003

Sizdah Newspaper - 2003

Javan Newspaper - 2003

Bani Film Newspaper - 2003

Mehr - 2003

Tehran Times - 2000

Zan (Woman) Newspaper - 1998

Contact Bahar

Contact Bahar:
Info@baharmovahed.com