Kamrooz Aram (born 1978 in
Shiraz
Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As o ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
) is a contemporary artist whose diverse artistic practice engages the complicated relationship between traditional non-Western art and Western
Modernism
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
. Through a variety of forms including
painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...
,
collage
Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...
,
drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...
and
installation
Installation may refer to:
* Installation (computer programs)
* Installation, work of installation art
* Installation, military base
* Installation, into an office, especially a religious (Installation (Christianity) Installation is a Christian li ...
, Aram has found the potential for image-making to function critically in its use as a tool for a certain renegotiation of history. He lives and works in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
.
Life and career
Kamrooz Aram received a
B.F.A. in 2001 from
Maryland Institute College of Art
The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a private art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the oldest art colleges in the U ...
(MICA).
Aram received his Master's degree in
Fine Arts
In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...
from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in 2003.
Solo and two-person exhibitions include ''Ornament for Indifferent Architecture'' (2017) at Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens,
Deurle
Deurle is part of the municipality of Sint-Martens-Latem located in the Flemish part of Belgium. Deurle is a picturesque small village near the borders of the river Lys and was added to Sint-Martens-Latem in 1977. Many well-known Flemish artists ...
, Belgium;
''Recollections for a Room'' (2016–2017) and ''Unstable Paintings for Anxious Interiors'' at Green Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE (2016; 2014);
''Kamrooz Aram/Julie Weitz'' at
Michelle Grabner
Michelle Grabner (born 1962 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin) is an artist, curator, and critic based in Wisconsin. She is the Crown Family Professor of Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she has taught since 1996. She has curated sever ...
's space The Suburban, Chicago, Illinois (2013);
Brute Ornament: Kamrooz Aram and Seher Shah'' curated by Murtaza Vali, at Green Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE (2012); ''Negotiations'' at Perry Rubenstein Gallery, New York, New York (2011)
''Generation After Generation, Revolution after Revelation''at LAXART, Los Angeles, California (2010) an
''Kamrooz Aram: Realms and Reveries''at the
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) is a museum in a converted Arnold Print Works factory building complex located in North Adams, Massachusetts. It is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing ar ...
(MASS MoCA), North Adams, Massachusetts (2006).
He has shown in numerous group exhibitions including ''Beauty Reigns: A Baroque Sensibility in Recent Painting'',
McNay Art Museum
The McNay Art Museum, founded in 1954 in San Antonio, is the first modern art museum in the U.S. state of Texas. The museum was created by Marion Koogler McNay's original bequest of most of her fortune, her important art collection and her 24-roo ...
, San Antonio, TX (2014); ''roundabout'', City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand (2010); the ''Busan Biennale,'' (2006);
MoMA PS1
MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution located in Court Square in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, th ...
's ''Greater New York 2005''; and the ''Prague Biennale I'' (2003). His most recent solo exhibitions include: ''Arabesque'', Green Art Gallery, Dubai (2019); ''An Object, A Gesture'', A Décor, FLAG Art Foundation, NY (2018); ''FOCUS: Kamrooz Aram'', The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX, USA (2018); ''Ancient Blue Ornament'', Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, GA, USA (2018); ''Ornament for Indifferent Architecture'', Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Belgium (2017).
Aram was one of the winners of the Abraaj Group Art Prize 2014;
he has also been awarded grants from Art Matters (2014),
the New York Foundation for the Arts (2004) and the
Jacob K. Javits Fellowship Program (2001). His work has been featured and reviewed widely in publications such as ''Art in America'',
''Artforum.com'', ''The New York Times'',
''Asian Art Newspaper'', ''The Village Voice''
and the arts and culture segment on ''BBC Persian'': ''Tamasha''.
Aram's work can be found in public collections including the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, New York;
Cincinnati Art Museum
The Cincinnati Art Museum is an art museum in the Eden Park neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1881, it was the first purpose-built art museum west of the Alleghenies, and is one of the oldest in the United States. Its collection of ov ...
, Cincinnati, Ohio;
Rose Art Museum
The Rose Art Museum, founded in 1961, is a part of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, US. Named after benefactors Edward and Bertha Rose, it offers temporary exhibitions, and it displays and houses works of art from the permanent col ...
at
Brandeis University
, mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = NECHE
, president = Ronald D. Liebowitz
, pro ...
, Waltham, MA; the
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (widely referred to as The Modern) is an art museum of post-World War II art in Fort Worth, Texas with a collection of international modern and contemporary art. Founded in 1892, The Modern is located in the c ...
in Texas;
and
M+, Hong Kong.
See also
*
Islamic art
Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide ra ...
*
Iranian art
Persian art or Iranian art () has one of the richest art heritages in world history and has been strong in many media including architecture, painting, weaving, pottery, calligraphy, metalworking and sculpture. At different times, influences ...
*
Islamic calligraphy
Islamic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy, in the languages which use Arabic alphabet or the alphabets derived from it. It includes Arabic, Persian, Ottoman, and Urdu calligraphy.Chapman, Caroline (2012). '' ...
*
Iranian modern and contemporary art
A cursory glance at the history of art reveals that social, political and economic conditions have always played a major role in the emergence of new artistic currents and styles. As an example ''Flight'' by Morteza Katouzian is showing the margi ...
*
List of Iranian artists
The following list of Iranian artists (in alphabetical order by last name) includes artists of various genres, who are notable and are either born in Iran, of Iranian descent or who produce works that are primarily about Iran.
Cinema artists
Act ...
References
External links
Kamrooz Aram official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aram, Kamrooz
American artists
1978 births
Living people
Maryland Institute College of Art alumni
Columbia University School of the Arts alumni
Iranian painters
American people of Iranian descent
Iranian emigrants to the United States
People from Shiraz
Artists from Brooklyn