In his paintings, Ali Banisadr creates intangible worlds in which figuration and abstraction are delicately balanced, creating a rhythmic sense of motion in vibrant colours across the canvas. Influenced by the experience of synaesthesia, whereby his senses of colour and of sound are intertwined, he translates this internal state into visual terms. The enigmatic figures that populate his works are often imagined hybrids that stem from the artist's fascination with mythological creatures and embody the constantly shifting identities of our increasingly digital world. While these fantastical scenes are anchored in the lineage of art historical figures, such as the Renaissance painter Hieronymus Bosch, they also resonate strongly with the world we live in today.
The restless surfaces of Banisadr's paintings combine competing sensibilities, setting areas of orderly, precise brushwork against energetic, gestural ones. This creates a sense of restless motion and even conflict across the canvas, as if the entire composition is in the process of metamorphosis. He does not allow any focal point or central protagonist to emerge, instead creating a multiplicity of figures that overlap and coalesce. The artist once remarked that his childhood memories, notably of the Islamic revolution and the Iran-Iraq war, were a mix of images, half abstract and half recognisable forms. Banisadr explains that he 'became fascinated with all histories of war, conspiracies, colonialism and corruption.' This interest in the functioning and breakdown of systems – whether political, cultural or historical – is reflected in complex painted structures in which different elements intermingle and collide.
Born in Tehran in 1976, Banisadr moved to California with his family when he was a child. While living in San Francisco, he studied psychology and became involved with graffiti art. He has lived and worked in New York since 2000, when he moved to the city to study at the School of Visual Arts and the New York Academy of Art. Since his first solo exhibition in 2008, his work has been shown at numerous museums, including S.M.A.K. Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent (2010); Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague (2011); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2012); Lehmbruck Musem, Duisburg, Germany (2013); Aga Khan Museum, Toronto (2017); The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2017); and a two-person show with Andrew Sendor at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, USA (2019). He was included in Love Me/Love Me Not: Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan and Its Neighbours at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013. Recent solo exhibitions include at the Het Noordbrabants Museum, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands (2019); Benaki Museum, Athens (2020); and Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, USA (2020).
2025
Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist, Katonah Museum, Katonah, NY, USA
2022
Return to Mother, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
2021
Ali Banisadr: These Specks of Dust, Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Ali Banisadr: Beautiful Lies, Stefano Bardini Museum & Palazzo Vecchio Museum, Florence, Italy
2020
Ultramarinus – Beyond the Sea, Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
Ali Banisadr / MATRIX 185, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, USA
2019
Ali Banisadr: Foreign Lands, Het Noordbrabants Museum, Netherlands
Bosch & Banisadr, Ali Banisadr: We Work in Shadows, Gemäldegalerie der Akademie der bidenden Künste Wien, Vienna, Austria
Ordered Disorders, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
2018
Ali Banisadr: The World Upside Down, Blain|Southern, Berlin, Germany
2017
Trust in the Future, Sperone Westwater, New York, NY, USA
2015
In Medias Res, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
At Once, Blain Southern, London, UK
2014
Motherboard, Sperone Westwater, New York, NY, USA
2012
We haven't landed on earth yet, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
2011
It Happened and It Never Did, Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York, NY, USA
2010
Evidence, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
Paintings, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
2008
Paintings, Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York, NY, USA
2023
Au bout de mes rêves, Tripostal, Lille, France
2021
Rebel, Jester, Mystic, Poet: Contemporary Persians – The Mohammed Afkhami Collection, Asia Society Museum, New York, NY, USA
Epic Iran, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
Rebel, Jester, Mystic, Poet: Contemporary Persians, Asia Society, New York, NY, USA
Le Cinquiéme Printemps, Custot Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
A Boundless Drop to a Boundless Ocean, Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL, USA
2020
30 Years in Paris, Thaddeaus Ropac, Paris Pantin, France
Artists for New York, Hauser & Wirth, New York, NY, USA
Libro de Disegni, Galerie Isa, Mumbai, India
Parley for the Oceans x Vortic, Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Protean, Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY, USA
New Editions, Print Project Space, Cristea Roberts Gallery, London, UK
2019
Micro-Macro, Andrew Sendor and Ali Banisadr, Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, FL, USA
We Contain Multitudes, cur. Ali Banisadr, Galerie Isa, Mumbai, India
2018
Chaos and Awe: Painting for the 21st Century, The Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN, USA
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, USA
Doodles and Disegno, Blain|Southern, Berlin, Germany
Acquisitions Recentes du Cabinet d'Art Graphique, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
NGORO NGORO 2, Lehderstrasse 34, Berlin, Germany
New on the Wall (N.O.W.), Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH, USA
2017
Rebel, Jester, Mystic, Poet: Contemporary Persians, gha Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, USA
2016
Iranian Voices: recent acquisitions of works on paper, British Museum, London, UK
A Question of Perspective, Grimm, Amsterdam, Netherlands
My Abstract World, Me Collectors Room/Olbricht Foundation, Berlin, Germany
2015
Charity for the Refugees, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
2014
Eurasia: A view on painting, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Pantin, France
Love Me/ Love Me Not: Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan and its Neighbors, Heydar Alivey Center, Baku, Azerbaijan
Between Worlds, Galerie Isa, Mumbai, India
2013
Love Me/ Love Me Not: Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan and its Neighbors, 55th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Expanded Painting, Prague Biennale 6, Prague, Czech Republic
Cinematic Visions: Painting at The Edge of Reality, Victoria Miro Gallery, London, UK
A Selection of Recent Acquisitions from The Permanent Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Disaster / The End of Days, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Pantin, France
Safar/Voyage, Museum of Anthropology at The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Frauen Liebe und Leben (The Klöcker collection), Lehmbruck Musem, Duisburg, Germany
Dynasty, Hotel Particulier, New York, NY, USA
Tectonic, The Moving Museum, Gate Village DIFC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2012
Contemporary Iranian Art in the Permanent Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA
Peekskill Project V, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, New York, NY, USA
Hue and Cry, Sotheby’s (S2 Gallery) New York, NY, USA
The Sound of Painting, Palazzo Saluzzo Paesana, Turin, Italy
Lucie Fontaine : Estate Vernissage, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Referencing History, Green Art Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2011
XXSmall, Miniature Museum of Contemporary Art at Haags Gemeente Museum, The Hague, Netherlands
East Ex East, Brand New Gallery, Milan, Italy
Visions, Monica De Cardenas, Milan, Italy
2010
Hareng Saur: Ensor en de hedendaagse kunst, Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent at S.M.A.K, Ghent, Belgium
Contemporary Notes, Assar Gallery, Tehran, Iran
Ghosts (Mauricio Anzeri, Ali Banisadr, and Nick Goss), Luce Gallery, Turin, Italy
2009
Epic Painting, Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, PA, USA
Raad O Bargh, Kunstraum Deutsche Bank, Salzburg, Austria
Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
Raad O Bargh: 17 Artists from Iran, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
2008
Weaving The Common Thread, Queens Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA
Small is Beautiful (2), Flowers Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Post Graduate Fellows Exhibition (Ali Banisadr, David Pettibon, MaryRaap), New York Academy of Art, NY, USA
Utopia Dystopia, Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York, NY, USA
2007
Small is Beautiful, Flowers Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Homecoming, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, USA
Summer Exhibition, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, USA
CAA Exhibition, Hunter College/Time Square Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2006
Tribeca Ball, Skylight, New York, NY, USA
Summer Painters, Château de Balleroy, Balleroy, France
2005
In Exile, Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Austria
Museum der Moderne, Salzburg
Essl Collection, Klosterneuburg
Gemaldegalerie Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna
Belgium
Vanhaerents Art Collection, Brussels
France
Centre Pompidou, Paris
Germany
Würth Collection, Künzelsau
Olbricht Collection, Berlin
Greece
Benaki Museum, Athens
Hong Kong
K11 Art Foundation
Italy
Pinault Collection, Palazzo Grassi, Venice
Netherlands
Het Noordbrabants Museum, Den Bosch
Miniature Museum, The Hague
UK
British Museum, London
Saatchi Gallery, London
USA
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX (long-term loan)
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
2010
New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Painting, New York, NY, USA
2007–08
Post-Graduate Research Fellowship, New York Academy of Art, NY, USA
2006
Travel Grant to Normandy, France, at the Château Balleroy
Prince of Wales / Forbes Foundation