Reza Derakshani is known as one of the most prolific contemporary Iranian artists. He graduated from the University of Tehran in 1976, and went on to further his studies at the Pasadena School of Art in California. Shortly after graduating, he moved to New York where he resided for 16 years. It is there, where he gained exposure to neo-expressionism and pure abstraction, a style of painting he gravitated towards during his career.
His work is in important public and private collections worldwide, with institutional presence in The British Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art and The Russian Museum in St Petersburg, where he held two solo exhibitions in 2016.