Y.Z. Kami
dal 19/11/2008 al 10/2/2009
Segnalato da
19/11/2008
Y.Z. Kami
Parasol Unit, London
The exhibition presents large, frontal painted portraits of ordinary people, each of whom fills its canvas, often measuring three metres by two metres. The exhibition also features Y.Z. Kami's works on paper, entitled Endless Prayers. These are made by gluing countless minute brick-shaped cut-outs from poetry and prayer texts on to the canvas.
Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art is pleased to present the first UK solo exhibition of
paintings, collages and photographs by the Persian born artist Y.Z. Kami. This diverse group of
works has been created over a period of ten years and will be shown for the first time in this
country.
The most striking works in this exhibition are undoubtedly Y.Z. Kami’s large and frontal painted
portraits of ordinary people, each of whom entirely fills the canvas, often measuring three
metres by two metres. Despite their imposing size and intense presence these portraits are
neither flattering nor psychological; rather, they depict the subjects as they are, absorbed in
their own world. This characteristic together with their fresco-like quality, executed using a
special painting technique, endows the figures with a certain lack of materiality resembling that
of Fayum portraits which were painted to accompany Egyptian mummies in their graves. In some
of the paintings the eyes of the subjects are closed, but in others they are open and they gaze
either inwardly or at a fixed point in the distance. No eye contact can be established by the
viewer and each painted figure seems to carry its own distinct history within itself.
The same frontal perspective and detachment is prevalent in Y.Z. Kami’s monumental
photographs of Islamic sites and architecture. For Y.Z. Kami, architecture, like human beings,
speaks of its own history and at times he combines architecture with portraits of people to
create some poignant works, such as Dry Land, 1994–2004 and Konya, 2007.
The exhibition will also feature Y.Z. Kami’s collages, entitled Endless Prayers. These works are
made by gluing countless minute brick-shaped cut-outs from various books on to the canvas in
circular arrangements or according to some Islamic architectural detailing of domes. The
spiralling patterns are inspired by the whirling motions in the rituals of dervishes found in the
Mawlavi order of Sufism, who profess that the act of spinning undoes the ego, cleanses them of
the self and finds the sole unity of God. The Mawlavi order of Sufism was founded by the
thirteenth century Persian poet, Rumi, whose work has played an important role in Kami’s life
and work since he began studying it as a young man. The work entitled Konya, 2007, was made
in homage to the poet and bears the name of the town where Rumi was born.
Y.Z. Kami was born in 1956 in Tehran, Iran, and now lives and works in New York. He has had
many solo exhibitions in America, for example Barbara Toll Fine Arts, New York, 1992 and 1993;
Holly Salomon Gallery, New York, 1996; Deitch Projects, New York, 1998 and 2001; Herbert F.
Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 2003; John Berggruen Gallery, San
Francisco, 2007 and Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, 2007. Kami’s work is in the collection of
several major museums in the United States, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the
Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, all in New York.
Opening november 20, 2008
Parasol Unit
14 Wharf Road - London
Gallery opening times: Tuesday – Saturday, 10am – 6pm and Sunday, 12 – 5pm
Admission: Free