The new work displays a more intimate and direct perspective, but with greater freedom and openness in its brushwork. The result is a more evocative sense of narrative than much of his earlier work, in which Banisadr painted from a wide bird's-eye perspective, suggesting a relatively detached view of his subjects. In paintings such as Language of the Birds or Riders on the Storm (both 2018), Banisadr composes his visual drama like a theater director or music director who orchestrates the interwoven voices or scenic scenery, yet the representation of the forms and figures remains ambiguous. “In theatre, or in opera,” comments the artist, “you are presented with costumed figures and you automatically know that this is the authority figure, that is the buffoon and so on. I like the duality between looking at the “real” figure and their costumed “role”. I've always liked not knowing what it is."
Banisadr's recent adoption of a monochromatic palette appears in canvases such as The Levanter (2017) and The Building of Icarus (2018), each in cool blue tones and the dark green of The Wretched of The Earth (2018). The artist's new palette, in turn cold and warm to create a dynamic synergy, continues in the new works on paper, where the ink seems suspended, contending with centrifugal and centripetal impulses within the general frame. Suggestions of trompe l'oeil, painted Iznik pottery and digital imaging alike inform this series. The largest works on paper that Banisadr has produced to date, establish an exuberant almost three-dimensional style.
The title of the exhibition – The World Upside Down – echoes with a multitude of ideas. In many of the artist's works the landscape looks like an upside down world, evoking a great sense of bewilderment. The apparent chaos represented in his work also allows the artist to reflect on the fragile rigidity of social classes. The absurdity of life and the strange and artificial construction called "society" which is divided into classes is a theme that underlies the reflections of the artists: "The world is a carnival stage, we are all actors of one kind or another . We are all involved. Caught in our own madness. “says Banisadr. The title also refers to Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin's concept of "carnival", a force that reverses social norms and structures is one of his inspirations. In the publication accompanying the exhibition, the art historian David Anfam writes that “the carnivalesque is based on ambiguities, reversals, excesses, revelations and concealments – thus striking at the heart of Banisadr's pictorial universe.
In 2019 his works will be the subject of the following solo exhibitions: Bosch & Banisadr, Gemaldegalerie, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, AT; Ali Banisadr, Noordbrabants Museum, 's-Hertogenbosch, NL and Ali Banisadr and Andrew Sendor, MOCA Jacksonville, USA.
Ali Banisadr was born in Tehran, IR in 1976 and lives and works in New York, USA. He received his MFA from the New York Academy of Art in New York, USA and his BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York, USA.
Banisadr's work has been extensively shown internationally and has been the subject of numerous group exhibitions, including The Frist Art Museum, Nashville, USA (2018); Center Pompidou, Paris, FR (2018); Museum of Fine Arts of Houston (MFA), Houston, United States (2017); The British Museum, London, UK (2016); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, US (2013); Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, DE (2013); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA (2012) and Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (SMAK), Ghent, BE (2010). His work is in major public and private collections internationally including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC, USA, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, USA United, The British Museum, London, UK, Center Pompidou, Paris, FR, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, USA, Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, AT and Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, USA United among others.
Ali Banisadr
The World Upside Down
Until 17 November 2018
Blain|Southern Berlin
