알리 바니사드르(Ali Banisadr)는 구상과 추상이 섬세하게 균형을 이루는 무형의 세계를 자신의 회화에 구축하고, 캔버스 전체에 강렬한 색상을 사용하여 리드미컬한 운동감을 조성한다. 그는 색채 감각과 소리 감각이 혼합되는 공감각적 경험의 영향을 받아 그가 느낀 내면의 상태를 시각적인 언어로 옮긴다. 작품에 등장하는 불가사의한 형상들은 허구적인 혼합체이며 대부분 신화적 창조물에 대한 그의 관심에서 비롯되었고, 점점 더 디지털화 되어가는 세상에서 끊임없이 변하는 존재들을 구체화한다. 이러한 환상적인 장면들은 르네상스 시대 화가인 히에로니무스 보쉬(Hieronymus Bosch) 같은 미술사적 인물의 계보를 잇고 있으며 동시에 오늘날 우리가 살고 있는 세상에도 큰 울림을 준다.
바니사드르 회화에서 불안정한 표면은 상반된 감각들을 결합하고, 에너지 넘치는 손짓과 대조적으로 질서정연한 붓놀림을 보여준다. 이는 마치 전체적인 구성이 변화 중인 것처럼, 캔버스 전체에 불안한 운동감과 충돌을 만들어 낸다. 또한 작가는 그림에 어떤 중심이나 주인공을 등장시키지 않고, 대신 중첩되고 합쳐진 여러 형상들을 만든다. 그는 유년 시절의 기억, 특히 이슬람 혁명과 이란-이라크 전쟁에 관한 기억들이 절반은 추상적이고 또 절반은 식별 가능한 형태로 섞여 있다고 말하며, ‘전쟁과 음모, 식민주의, 그리고 부패에 관한 모든 역사에 흥미를 느낀다’고 설명한다. 서로 다른 요소들이 섞이고 충돌하는, 복잡하게 표현된 구조물들은 정치, 문화적 그리고 역사적인 체계의 기능과 붕괴에 대한 그의 관심이 반영된 것이다.
1976년 테헤란(Tehran)에서 태어난 바니사드르는 어린 시절 가족과 함께 캘리포니아로 이주했다. 샌프란시스코에 거주하는 동안 그는 심리학을 배우고, 그래피티 아트를 했다. 2000년, 시각예술대학교(School of Visual Arts)와 뉴욕미술아카데미(New York Academy of Art)를 다니기 위해 뉴욕으로 이주했으며, 현재에도 뉴욕을 기반으로 활동 중이다. 2008년 첫 개인전 이후, 겐트의 S.M.A.K.(Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, 2010)와 네덜란드 헤이그 미술관(Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague, 2011), 뉴욕 메트로폴리탄 미술관(The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2012), 뒤스부르크 렘부르크 미술관(Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, 2013), 토론토 아가 칸 미술관(Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, 2017), 휴스턴 미술관(Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2017) 등 다수의 미술관에서 개인전을 했고, 다음 해 잭슨빌 현대미술관(Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville)에서 앤드류 센더(Andrew Sendor)와 함께 2인전을 했다. 제 55회 베니스 비엔날레(Venice Biennale, 2013)의 《Love Me/Love Me Not: Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan and Its Neighbours》에 참여했으며, 최근에 스헤르토헨보스의 노르트브라반트 미술관(Het Noordbrabants Museum, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, 2019), 아테네 베나키 박물관(Benaki Museum, Athens, 2020), 와즈워스 아테니움 미술관(Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, 2020)에서 개인전을 선보였다.
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
Victoria and Albert Museum, 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