Wholesale Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist

Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist by Michelle Yun Mapplethorpe An exploration of a powerful voice in contemporary art whose works distill art history, philosophy, and world events   The practice of one of today’s most exciting artists, Ali Banisadr (b. 1976), includes painting, drawing, printmaking, and sculpture. At first glance, Banisadr’s works resemble gestural abstractions, charged with energy and interwoven colors, but on closer inspection they reveal themselves as vast theatrical landscapes, often populated with a cast of characters enacting mysterious narratives. His complex, turbulent visual worlds are marked by syncopated rhythms that corral a multitude of references from across art history—including German Expressionism, Abstract Expressionism, Renaissance and Medieval art, alchemical imagery, Mesopotamian antiquities, and Persian miniatures—while at the same time engaging with pressing issues in contemporary society.