Ali Banisadr Underworld, 2021

In the dynamic, colourful Underworld (2021), strange, half-human, half-animal creatures morph across the canvas in vivid gradations of purples, greens and browns that are densely packed beneath an agitated sky. In contrast, the brushwork in the upper half of the canvas is airier and more ethereal. This painting is from a series of new works inspired by Dante’s Inferno, which will be presented at Museo Bardini and Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, in Spring 2021. Banisadr paints complex structures in which different elements intermingle, the organisation of space is disrupted and the focus is lost, resulting in an impression of chaos. This choreography of sounds, shapes and movements creates much of the energy that emanates from the painting.