Mahmoud Zenderoudi, known as "Zende", is an Iranian modernist painter. He is often associated with the Sagha Khaneh movement and his calligraphic painting artworks. Zenderoudi was born in 1943 in Karaj and became interested in art influenced by his mother.
He was 19 when he participated in the second Tehran biennial with his calligraphic painting artworks. His first solo exhibition was held at the Tehran Gallery in 1966, and four years later he participated in the Tehran International Exhibition. Zanderoudi left Iran for southern France at the same time as the Revolution of 1979, where he settled and devoted his life to painting. In his works, he uses the traditional methods of Sagha Khaneh, such as stamping, stereotyping, engraving and calligraphy, but some of his techniques are unique and different from other artists. Most of Zenderoudi's technical achievements formed during his artistic career abroad. Especially after 1988, Zenderoudi gained new experiences in working with materials, techniques and expression. In some of his works, he used collage techniques with putting together junk and disposable materials such as Shredded newspapers, cardboard cutting clippings, banner and poster clippings, scrapbooks, soda bottle trays, and even dried potatoes . After 1992, he used a kind of handmade paper, which later became the main feature of several periods of his career. "Zende's Paper" was the name given to this paper by the famous art expert Jean-Pierre Roux. Zenderoudi signs his works with his nickname "Zende" and is known by the same name in Western art circles. Zenderoudi has also gone for volume and layout in his extensive searches. The spheres and columns, which are covered with a motif of letters and words are his most familiar experiences in the volumetric art. During these experiences, Zendeh also decorated pages from antique books or the bodies of objects such as pianos, computer keyboards, and electronic circuits.
Claude Bertoli, a painter and sculptor, writes about the place of materials in the artist's works: "To express his Iranian nature, he first seeks the kindness of the raw materials he consumes. soft papers like brocade fabrics and wavy cartons. He spreads them in a strange labyrinth like intertwined beehive nets. Then there are the magical letters that have made Persian calligraphy infinitely rich for centuries. Letters and words sink into each other's arms and intertwine together and become form and beauty before expressing poetry, words or literature."
Anthony Blanche ,the journalist, writes of Zandroudi's experiences in writing and decorating pages: "using peels and manuscripts is an emphasis of the book's dignity not its words. The artist revives what we want to sustain. He always deceives us about the nature and kind of the materials and tools he used, and this is a testament to his technical skills and expertise."