Mehmet Najaf

I was born in 1965 in the city of Tabriz, Azerbaijan province in Iran. I have been engaged in art since my childhood ages. Even though sometimes music and sometimes painting had influenced me until the age of 18, a miniature painting I saw at those ages fascinated me so much that it caused me to completely change my direction into the art of painting, and I decided to become a painter. All the time from then until now, painting has become an essential passion in my life.

By completing my education in the department of painting teaching at the university, I began working as a painting teacher at an art school. In the meantime, I participated in numerous exhibitions in Tehran and in Tabriz, and my paintings won many awards.
Afterwards, I entered the department of the painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts; I created paintings by experiencing patterns, watercolor, oil painting, pastel, and other various techniques. I concentrated my works mainly on watercolor and oil paintings.

In 1999, I participated in a group exhibition at the Sevensanat Gallery in Istanbul with my works I made with watercolor technique for the first time. Various group exhibitions at Sevensanat and other art galleries followed this. I mostly displayed my watercolor and oil painting works in all exhibitions in which I participated.
In 2008 in Austria, I held my first solo exhibition at the Glugnitz Gallery.
In the International Watercolor Exhibition held in May 2015 in Bornova, Izmir, I received two awards, the 4th, and the 5th place awards. I received many awards for my works by participating in painting festivals held in Urla, in Cappadocia, and in different cities. Within this period, I came to and left Turkey many times, and in 2016, I started living continuously in Istanbul, whose scenery, culture, and weather I adore.

In 2018, I was invited to a watercolor event to which 12 artists are invited each year in Portugal; there, I found the opportunity to meet painters who came from different countries.
I acquired the citizenship of the Republic of Turkey in 2020.
“Painting means love and peace to me… I cannot imagine a life in which I don't paint."