Gather with Fern Hill Members for a reception in KMA's beautiful garden for beverages & small bites by Graze New York before a very special conversation with artist Ali Banisadr, moderated by KMA Director and Chief Curator, Michelle Yun Mapplethorpe.
More about the Exhibition:
Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist, is the first major U.S. museum survey of the Brooklyn-based Iranian born artist Ali Banisadr. This landmark exhibition encompasses nearly twenty years of the artist’s singular practice, from 2006 to the present, across the mediums of painting, drawing, and printmaking. A group of sculptures, a new direction for the artist, has been created for the KMA and will be presented to the public for the first time.
Ali Banisadr’s biographical history growing up amidst revolution and political unrest in Iran, his emigration to the U.S., and wide-ranging artistic influences exemplify the shifting definition of what it means to be an “American artist” today. The personal and artistic narratives across his oeuvre, distilled through a dazzling mastery of art history, philosophy, and world events, offer a nuanced perspective on human nature. Banisadr is a creator of worlds—intuitively and painstakingly constructed—that exude a vitality at once turbulent and revelatory. These microcosms are the culmination of a careful balancing act between chaos and composure, abstraction and representation. Expansive compositions are rich with figurative allusions, sonic recollection filtered through the artist’s synesthesia, invented stories, world history, collective memory, and mythology. The works’ syncopated rhythms echo a multitude of references across the history of art—including Mesopotamian antiquities, alchemical imagery, Persian miniatures, medieval and Renaissance art, Surrealism, German Expressionism, and Abstract Expressionism—as a bellwether of our own tempestuous times. By illuminating the beauty, technical mastery, and cultural acuity of Banisadr’s vision, Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist aims to establish the artist’s role as a leading cultural scribe and a resonant voice in contemporary art.
The exhibition will be on view at the KMA through June 29, 2025.
More about the artist:
Ali Banisadr: Born in Tehran, Iran in 1976, the artist grew up amidst the turmoil of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88). In 1988, Banisadr left Iran with his family at the age of twelve, first reaching Turkey and then San Diego, California. While living in San Francisco as a young adult, he became involved with the local graffiti art community while studying psychology. He later moved to New York City where he earned a BFA at the School of Visual Arts (2005) and an MFA at the New York Academy of Art (2007). The artist currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Banisadr has been the subject of international solo museum exhibitions at the Museo Stefano Bardini and Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, (2021); Benaki Museum, Athens, (2020); Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, (2020); Gemäldegalerie, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, (2019); and the Het Noordbrabants Museum, Den Bosch, (2019). His work has also been included in major group exhibitions including the Venice Biennale (2013) and Prague Biennale (2013). Banisadr’s work is included in significant public collections including the Benaki Museum, Athens; British Museum, London; Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Het Noordbrabants Museum, Den Bosch; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museum der Moderne, Salzburg; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia; and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, among others.
Michelle Yun Mapplethorpe is Director and Chief Curator of the Katonah Museum of Art. She was formerly Vice President for Global Artistic Programs and Director of the Asia Society Museum, and has served in curatorial roles at Asia Society, Hunter College Art Galleries, and MoMA, among other institutions. Yun Mapplethorpe is a widely published author and frequent lecturer on modern and contemporary art. She serves as an affiliate member of the ArtsWestchester Board of Directors and as advisory board member of the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum in addition to her association with many other arts organizations.