Jacobʼs paintings are meditations that explore elemental themes underlying the material world. Sur-naturalism, his signature technique, transcends surrealism with dreamlike insights into fundamental workings of nature and the human spirit.

Jacob grew up in Tehran surrounded by the sounds of Sufi poetry and mūsīqī-e sonnatī aka Persian classical music. Selected as an artistʼs assistant when he was just ten years old, Jacob began to transpose that aural tradition into a visual context. While his instrument is a brush, his canvases have the narrative quality of songs, or poems. But it was Sufi mysticism, the intoxicating dance with the divine that guided poets like Rumi and Hafez, that fundamentally shaped his work. “The mystical side of the mind is very close to music,” says Jacob, “to a beautiful painting.”

Pursuing deeper truths, Jacob strove to paint directly from the soul. “When you come to realize what is real is beyond the physical, the mystical experience becomes so important.”

”Itʼs part of life, like food. If you donʼt have it every day, something is missing.” He developed his sur-natural approach in order to disconnect himself from physical, relative concerns and work in an almost dreamlike state, accessing deeper levels of awareness.

Rather than rendering subjects literally, Jacob acts as a translator, distilling spiritual themes to their essential forms through the use of mystical imagery.

While in Iran, Jacobʼs work began to establish his reputation among both critics and collectors. But Jacob would not stay to enjoy his success there as on the eve of the Iranian revolution in 1979, he moved to Los Angeles with his wife and one year old daughter. In California, Jacob quietly developed a new body of work with a brighter palette that reflected his adopted home and evoked the inner light and the healing power of the mystical state. In addition to oils, his preferred medium, Jacob creates sketches and prints, as well as his own poetry. He has exhibited his work in solo and group shows across California as well as in Italy, Israel and Iran.

In Jacob’s eyes, painting is a revelatory process , a visionary journey into the heart of his subject, his practice, and himself. “ I am always taking longer jumps, always challenging myself. Painting for me is an act of discovery as much as creation, and one in which I have uncovered many secrets.” His canvases bear witness to those discoveries and in return reveal them to the viewer, completing a circle of knowledge.

”Like poetry, my painting is communication between me and you, between me and nature, between me and the divine.”

Biography written by: Douglas Gorney

Here are just a few notable art galleries/centers where Jacob has exhibited his work:

• Kurosh Kabir Society, Tehran, Iran.
• Menorah Club, Tehran, Iran.
• Iran/America Society, Tehran, Iran.
• Haifa Art Center, Haifa, Israel.
• Mohebban, Kurosh, Tehran, Iran.
• Gote Institute, Tehran, Iran.
• Shah Abbas Hotel, Isfahan, Iran.
• Kings Hotel, Tehran, Iran.
• Tehran Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
• Galleria Prametro, Rome, Italy.
• Heritage Art Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA.
• U.C.L.A. Royce Hall, Westwood, CA.
• Magbit Organization, Beverly Hills, CA.
• Orlando Gallery, Tarzana, CA
• Lark Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
• James Gray Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
• TAG Gallery, Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, CA