|
| Latest News |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
6/2/2011
A Conversation with New York-based Iranian artist Kamrooz Aram in Dubai
|
Untitled | Flag #10 | 2010 | Kamrooz Aram |
|
Iranian-born New York-based artist Kamrooz Aram continually examines the power of mystical symbolism in his work. He incorporates images of angels, flags, hawks and mystical light in a way which probes cultural and ideological pre-conditioned beliefs. I had the opportunity to sit with Kamrooz during Art Dubai at the Green Art Gallery stand where the artist’s work was featured in a solo-show and learn first-hand of the artistic and sociological influences which give life to his art. This was the first-time his work was displayed in the Middle East.
Kamrooz’s varied artistic repertoire includes paintings and drawings both which show a gradual shift towards the development of increasingly abstract images. The symbolism remains consistent yet varied and appropriated in a different manner in each work enabling the viewer to come to new terms with established categorizations and iconography.
Although born in the Iranian city of Shiraz, Kamrooz came to the United States at a very young age and obtained his MFA at Columbia University in 2003. His relationship with Iranian culture and imagery is thus one of detachment. He was trained in Western methods yet often feels disconnected from Western art history. The Iranian traditional forms of art have become part of his subject matter and artistic discourse and yet he utilizes them as an outsider to that culture and an individual who reckons with the lure of the Orient from afar.
We spoke at length about his recent drawings from the series “Revolutionary Dreams†and “Mystical Visions and Cosmic Vibrations.†He explained to me that the drawings began as an exercise: He would draw his visual thoughts first thing in the morning and in the evening. The resulted creations have a light playful quality and mysticism which entices the onlooker. One of his great influences for these works came from Allen Ginsburg’s (1926-1997) poem “America†which reveals the idealistic lure of the East and the ownership of exotic lands through Oriental romanticism.
n “Revolutionary Dreams†Kamrooz explores the romanticism of revolutionary ideology. The title of the piece is taken from a song by Reggae musician Pablo Moses whereby he recounts his dream of a romanticized revolutionary battle. Kamrooz’s work portrays revolutionary characters who have fallen short of achieving their dreams. In “Mystical Visions and Cosmic vibrations†the artist explores traditional Islamic imagery and the often mis-interpretation of Islamic ideology in the West
Hauntingly uneasy yet delightfully enrapturing, the brilliance of Kamrooz’s work is that the images, no matter how many times he recycles them and reworks their visual contours, appear continually new and enlivened. As he stated in a recent interview with Art Dubai Journal, “I like the idea of so many familiar images coming together to make an image that you have never seen before.†And the crux of this constant developing symbolism is that they intertwine Western and Eastern visual language.
Recent solo shows include Negotiations at Perry Rubenstein Gallery, NY, Generation After Generation, Revolution after Revelation at LAXART, Los Angeles, CA and Kamrooz Aram: Realms and Reveries at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, Massachusetts. He has shown in several important groups shows including roundabout (2010), the Busan Biennale (2006), P.S.1/MoMA’s Greater New York 2005, and the Prague Biennale I (2003). He lives in Brooklyn, NY.
|
|
 8/14/2012
Two earthquakes in Iran kill more than 300 and injure 5,000
Overcrowded hospitals in northwest Iran struggled to cope with thousands of earthquake victims on Sunday as rescuers raced to reach remote villages after two powerful quakes killed nearly 300 people. |
|
 8/13/2012
Iranian wrestlers win 2 bronze medals
Iranian wrestlers Ehsan Naser Lashgari and Komeil Qasemi have won bronze medals at the London 2012 Olympic Games. |
|
 8/6/2012
Iran to exhibit works by Gunther Uecker
Iran is planning to exhibit works by modern German sculptor and installation artist Gunther Uecker at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts. The event will be held from September 16 to November 1, 2012 ... |
|
 8/4/2012
"When Artists Attack the King: Honoré Daumier and La Caricature, 1830-1835" opens at Cantor Arts Center
STANFORD, CA.- Long before iranian cartoonist Mahmoud Shokraiyeh was sentenced to 25 lashings for drawing a parliament member in a soccer jersey, 19th-century caricaturist Honoré Daumier and his colleagues ... |
|
 8/1/2012
Farhadi’s film takes N America by storm
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar-winning film A Separation has taken the North America’s movie theaters by storm as the second top-grossing foreign-language film in 2012. |
|
 7/30/2012
London to exhibit installation by Iran’s Shirin Sabahi
The Saatchi Gallery is slated to display an installation work created by the Iranian artist Shirin Sabahi in the British capital of London.
The event is part of the 2011 Contemporary Art Prize (CAP) ... |
|
 7/24/2012
US, Iranian team excavate Siraf
A team of American and Iranian archaeologists has launched underwater excavations at the historical port of Siraf in the Persian Gulf. |
|
 7/22/2012
Mutatis Mutandis: Group show curated by Cathrine David opens at Vienna's Secession
VIENNA.- Mutatis Mutandis brings together a number of works that explore the complexity of contemporary events, materiality, history, and memories, and propose possible re-presentations. Discontinuous ... |
|
 7/7/2012
The 2nd Tehran Annual Digital Art Exhibition [TADAEX] was opened on Friday, July 6th.
The first day of The 2nd Tehran Annual Digital Art Exhibition [TADAEX] was opened among the unexpected attendance of the audience. |
|
 7/2/2012
UNESCO registers Isfahan Friday Mosque
Isfahan’s Friday Mosque has been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, making it the 14th Iranian site registered on the roll. The independent, 21-member World Heritage Committee announced the ... |
|
News Archive
|
Tehran
