Foreign Lands

The work of Ali Banisadr (b.1976, Tehran, Iran) demonstrates a careful balancing act between chaos and composure, and abstract and figurative painting and drawing. His complex, expansive paintings are rich with figurative allusions rooted in autobiographical narratives, sonic recollection, invented stories, world history, collective memory and mythology.

Sound is an integral part of Ali Banisadr’s practice, influencing the way that he works. Banisadr has synaesthesia (a condition where one sense, such as sight, simultaneously triggers another, like sound) and within his own work he hears an internal sound which guides him on the composition of his paintings.