Iranian painter fuses kabuki, Bosch, Persian folklore in Dubai solo show

DUBAI, UAE:  Don’t miss the final week of the Iranian painter Ramtin Zad’s Resurrection which closes on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at Etamad Gallery Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

For this extensive survey exhibition Resurrection, Zad has transformed his thoughts into dream-like landscapes depicted on canvas. Recently, he began to produce monumental vases more akin to the decorative arts, but they also draw from the Japanese theatre movement of Kabuki. This theatricality is evident by his use of thick brush strokes, drips and splatters of paint across surfaces.

Ramtinʼs works lends from Persian literature, folklore and miniatures. They present a fusion of fact and fiction and have a timeless quality. The artist wants to take you a world where on the surface it seems familiar but upon close examination all is not what it seems. Zad is a vivid storyteller, one who blurs the line between myth and reality.

In the Etamad Gallery catalogue essay, critic Rebecca Anne Proctor writes, “Resurrection, the title of Zad’s most recent solo show, features a selection of the artist’s fantastical works in which he transforms the unfortunate events of the outside world into his own dreamy and surreal landscapes. Despite their sadistic qualities, there is an evident cycle within these works: they depict the sad reality of horrific events while also presenting the possibility of the judgment of one’s fate. The idea of resurrection within these works is therefore a form of escape from the grim and brutal reality of their subject matter.”

Judging from Zad’s paintings in the catalogue, I would add that his work draws a great deal of its energy from the lush anarchy of the 15th-century paintings of Hieronymus Bosch whose fantastical scenes warped religious concepts and narratives. It is a bleak and sinister view of the world, but amid the exaggerations lies the desire for transcendence. — in the theater of One World

Biography
Ramtin Zad
Born 1984, Tehran, Iran

Education
Art Diploma, Payam Moasser Tehran School, Iran
2007 BA in Graphic, Jahad University, Iran

Solo Exhibitions
2010 Etemad Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2009 Total Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2008 Etemad Gallery, Tehran, Iran
Selected Group Exhibitions
2012 Portrait, curated by P.Shafiezadeh, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2011 Pool, curated by A.H.Bayani, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2011 13X18, curated by I. Safaei, Etemad Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2011 1st Modern & Contemporary Visual art auction, Tehran, Iran
2010 Shirin Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2010 Jungle 3, Shirin Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2009 Canvas Line Gallery, New York, USA
2009 Jungle 1, Hesabi Museum, Tehran, Iran
2008 Dar-al Fonoon, Kuwait
2008 The Nili Gallery, London, UK
2008 Golestan Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2007 Collected Memories, Art Space Gallery, London, UK
2007 Mah Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2007 June Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
2006 Figures & Portraits, Assar Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran

Publications
2010 EYE No.28, Mahriz Publication, Tehran, Iran

Ramtin Zad, Luna Park, Resurrection series, 2011, Acrylic on fiberglass, 18 x 24cm | Photo courtesy of Etemad Dubai

Ramtin Zad, Luna Park, Resurrection series, 2011, Acrylic on fiberglass, 18 x 24cm | Photo courtesy of Etemad Dubai

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One thought on “Iranian painter fuses kabuki, Bosch, Persian folklore in Dubai solo show

  1. Pingback: Day4 of the Beijing International art biennale 2012 « K_Van's Blog

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