Born in Mashhad, Iran in 1979, Javad Modaressi achieved both his Bachelor's and Master of Arts in Painting from Shahed University. He has held solo exhibitions since 2001 in Iran, most recently in 2011 at Azad Art Gallery, and has participated in collective exhibitions in Morocco, England, and Iran. His paintings have been awarded first prize in Persian Painting in 2000, selected for the third international Biennale of Word of Islam in 2003, and in 2008, Modaressi received the ‘Cite’ scholarship from Tehran’s Museum of Contemporary Art. A curator, writer, and critic of the visual arts as well as a painter, Modaressi has collaborated on Persian journals such as Tandis, Herfe Honarmand, Gplestan-e Honar, and Ayne-e Khial.