ALI BANISADR: THE FORTUNE TELLER
Perrotin is pleased to announce The Fortune Teller, the first solo exhibition of Brooklyn-based artist Ali Banisadr with the gallery at its Shanghai space.
November 6 – December 21, 2024
Banisadr’s characters are related to the extraterrestrial beings encountered in science fiction, heroes and wizards in epic quest novels, medieval bestiaries, the ghoulish creatures that Matthias Grünewald depicted in the Isenheim Altarpiece (1512-1516), and illustrated alchemical texts, just to name some of his inspirations. However, while resolution is common to many of these works, Banisadr’s figures inhabit a turbulent, alternate world in which resolution and redemption are noticeably absent.
Given the continual sounds and effects of violence that dominated his childhood, Banisadr does something entirely unexpected. Instead of making war and military conflict the focus of his work, he conjures up figures whose identities and motivations remain on the outer edges of our comprehension. We are unable to tell whether or not they are being benevolent or if they are up to no-good. Their murky behavior challenges viewers, who divide the world into distinct categories, such as right and wrong. Moving beyond these categories, Banisadr evokes a selfcontained world, where tumult is a widespread phenomenon that has infiltrated every part of daily life.
In his large paintings, we see numerous characters doing something mysterious. Banisadr never tells us who these characters are, where they come from, or what they are doing. He wants the painting to be wide open, a place where the viewer discovers mysterious encounters and exchanges, a dream-like world whose overarching meaning eludes us. At the same time, Banisadr is not trying to be obscure; he knows there are plenty of artists who play that game with the viewer. Rather, he is inviting viewers to reflect upon their experience, as well as to raise questions.
By inviting us to ponder his paintings and all the many associations they evoke, from catastrophic natural events to miraculous occurrences, Banisadr directs us back to the world we inhabit, full of inexplicable mysteries.