Much like a sculptor will say his work is about revealing the form that was within the depths of the block of stone or wood, Iranian artist Kamrooz Aram views his process as an excavation.
He begins by marking out a grid on a canvas and then, using an oil crayon, draws a structured pattern of flowers resembling those commonly found in Persian carpets. He then removes part of the pattern with a cloth, revealing what he sees as the true painting underneath.
The canvasses in his solo exhibition Recollections for a Room, at Green Art Gallery, all started in the same way but the results are very different, varying in colour and content.
Some, such as Ornament for a Quiet Room, are pale-coloured with several of the flowers remaining. Others, such as the Ornamental Composition for Social Spaces series, are much darker in colour, with smudged oil, and the floral pattern has been replaced by triangles and red dots – perhaps minimalist versions of the flowers.
The removal of the colour also reveals the grid, which Aram describes as a “compositional and ornamental device”. It is also a reference to the work of American abstract painter Agnes Martin, of whom the artist has long been an admirer.
“My attraction to her work was something that seems so challenging: that you can find an emotional impact in a work of art that is just a grid,” he says.
“As a young artist, that is what I started to pursue – and I am still after it now.”
Aram’s works are poetic and gently appealing. They show beauty as well as a deep sense of careful consideration.
This is true of the rest of the exhibition, which Aram designed down to the last detail. His paintings appear alongside odd-shaped ornaments on wooden pedestals, and he presents the entire set-up as a single piece of art. The painting functions as a backdrop and every element is important, from the colour of the raw linen he chooses to paint on, to the shadows the objects cast on the walls.
The exhibition is a site-specific installation the artist has been working on for several months. He selected the colour of the paint on the wall to match his works and drew lines on the wall to match those on the gallery floor. In this way, each feature of the room forms part of the exhibition.
“Recently I have become more and more interested in architecture and design as those things can also be meaningful,” he says. “People look to art to make architecture interesting so I have been interested in investigating this.”
In addition, the way the objects – which are made from a variety of materials including bronze, iron and ceramic – are displayed explores the significance of exhibition design and how it shapes our understanding of the antiquities we view in museums.
The objects are placed on plinths with no labels and no explanation as to what they are, which is not always clear from sight.
“I am not interested in revealing to the viewer where the objects come from or what they are,” says Aram. “I am trying to create a situation where the viewer has no choice but to see them for just what they are.”
This is a way of challenging the context in which we view anything we see in an institution or a supposedly neutral environment. So although the paintings are formed by Aram removing layers from the surface, they are presented alongside other items that perhaps add other layers to their interpretation.
“Whether it is subtractive or additive, I am always looking towards a resolution but that is such an abstract concept that is hard to define,” he says.
Aram’s work earned him the Abraaj Group Art Prize in 2014, and anyone familiar with that – and his previous show at Green Art Gallery – will see clear lines of progression in this latest show.
After this exhibition closes, many of the works will go to the Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens in Belgium, the artist’s first solo museum show.
• Kamrooz Aram: Recollections for a Room runs at Green Art Gallery in Alserkal Avenue, Dubai until January 15.
aseaman@thenational.ae
