Mamali Shafahi & Domenico Gutknecht Iran & Germany, b. 1982, 1987

Mamali Shafahi (b. 1982, Iran) and Domenico Gutknecht (b. 1987, Germany) are an artist duo based between Marseille and Paris. Their collaborative practice brings together immersive installation, sculpture, painting, and hybrid multimedia environments, developed through a shared interest in transformation, mythology, and the porous boundaries between the real and the fantastical.

Shafahi was trained at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts Paris–Cergy and the University of Art in Tehran. His solo practice spans sculpture, installation, and experimental film, and has been presented at venues including Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Dastan’s Basement (Tehran), and Shulamit Gallery (Los Angeles). Gutknecht studied media and journalism in Berlin, and brings a background rooted in visual culture, publishing, and independent media practices.

Working together, the duo constructs fluid narrative worlds in which surreal imagery, playful iconography, and shifting registers of reality coexist. Their projects frequently unfold across multiple media and formats, embracing ambiguity and metamorphosis as core strategies. Joint works have been presented internationally at institutions and galleries such as ARCO Madrid, Frieze London, Club Rhubarb (New York), and Guesthouse (Los Angeles), reflecting an ongoing exploration of magical realism, collective myth-making, and unstable narrative structures.

Selected Exhibitions

2025 — Cannibal Nature, Baró Galeria, Mallorca, Spain, curated by Rolando J. Carmona
2025 — Celestial Eye, Club Rhubarb, New York
2025 — Hubb(a) Hideout, Canada, New York, group exhibition, curated by Tony Cox
2025 — Mélange, group exhibition, curated by Thaer Select
2025 — Kaleidoscope, By Lara Sedbon, Paris, group exhibition
2025 — Guesthouse, Los Angeles, group exhibition

2024 — Strouk Gallery, Paris, group exhibition
2024 — Au milieu de l’hiver, j’ai découvert en moi un invincible été, Double V Gallery, Paris & Marseille, group exhibition

Selected institutional exhibitions

2024 — Creatures of Comfort, OMM Museum, Eskisehir
2023 — Fever Dream, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem
2022 — 58th Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
2019 — Prince.sse.s des villes, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
2019–2020 — nerd_funk (with Ali Eslami), touring program incl. IDFA, CPH:DOX, Vancouver Biennale
2017 — Athens Biennial
2012 — Iranian Arts Now, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris