The Epitome Gallery is proud to be displaying the artwork of Iranian artist Kian Rad Pouyan for the month of May. Kian is known for his pen drawings focusing on strong cross hatching. He has shown his work internationally and his work has been displayed in shows with prolific cross hatcher R Crumb. Kian is friends with Sophie Crumb, Robert’s daughter, and Sophie is the one that arranged the show at the Epitome Gallery. Sophie will also be displaying some of her work. Kian’s work will be on display for the month of May.

Opening: Saturday May 4th 2024 Arts Alive

We wanted to know more about Kian so we reached out and Sophie Crumb got back to us with this:

Kian Rad Pouyan is a 31 year old artist from Mashhad, a holy city in the Khorasan desert in the north-east of Iran. He is a newspaper cartoonist with a dark, expressive, humoristic style. He has worked for many local and national newspapers in Iran, but the extreme censorship in his country prevents him from expressing himself freely and his art is often rejected by the press, deemed too depressing and unflattering towards the regime of the Islamic Republic. When it is published, he is payed only 1$ per drawing. He uses quill pens and ink, watercolor, markers, and bic(ball-point pen).

His influences include iranian cartoonists (some who are exiled) Ali Akbar Sadeghi, Tooka Neyestani, Ardeshir Mohases…. and western artists like Ralph Steadman, Gahan Wilson, Tomi Ungerer and the R. Crumb Family.

He met Sophie Crumb through instagram in 2021 and they had a deep, instant connection and have been very close ever since. Kian sent his original art to France where Sophie exhibited it in several shows in Sauve, her village, and Paris. Kian also started publishing in western fanzines (i.e. Mineshaft, Lemming).

Having his artwork seen by people in the west has given him a window of oxygen onto the world, being able to express himself without self-censure and being appreciated gives him hope for his future as an artist.

Kian cannot leave his country because he didn’t do the 2.5 year mandatory military service, but his art can travel, making his shows abroad even more special and strong.