Keyvan Shovir is an Iranian-American multidisciplinary artist and muralist born in Iran and currently based in the bay area. He is one of the pioneers of Iranian street art in Tehran, focusing and addressing social issues and political messages through Persian calligraphy and poetry.
He creates sculptural sound installations, murals, and paintings, to explore the poetic experience of the current political situation within narration and storytelling from the past and its juxtaposition with the present. All the narrations are rooted in his Iranian heritage through literature, history and Persian myth, language, and today’s pop culture.
Shovir received his BA in Painting from Azad Tabriz University of Tabriz, Iran, and his MFA from California College of the Arts in San Francisco. He has received many awards including, Art of Peace from Robby Poblete Foundation, Creative Activism Awards of Culture of Resistance, Rite Editions Gift in Memory of Seven Leiber Scholarship, and Murphy & Cadogan Art Award.
He has exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including Seyhoun Gallery in Tehran, Crewest Gallery in Los Angeles, i.d.e.a. Museum of Mesa, Arizona, SOMArts Culture Center, and Minnesota Street Project in San Francisco, Graffik Gallery in London. His works featured in various publications such as; LA Times, Arte Channel of France, HuffPost, Freitag.
Keyvan Shovir, also known as CK1, is an Iranian visual and street artist based in San Francisco. His work combines Iranian traditional culture with contemporary pop culture. Shovir is a pioneer of Iranian graffiti art.