New York-based Iranian artist Mahmoud Hamadani’s latest exhibition “Fugues” features works on paper from three ongoing series, “Requiem”, “Traces” and “Odes”. The artist has used simple techniques and visual vocabularies to create profound works that speak about the dualities of life; the eternal struggle between chaos and order, darkness and light that is part of the human condition, and our quest for meaning in life.
Hamadani has a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics from State University of New York, and a Master’s degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. But as an artist he combines an analytical approach with a spiritual and philosophical outlook. His “Requiem” series is essentially a study of the dynamics of order and chaos. Each drawing in this series features a rhythmic pattern restrained by a simple structure such as a grid, a line or a dot.
“Without a structure the system is not sustainable, and without freedom it cannot thrive. Look closely at each drawing and you will see myriad haphazard elements, but if you step back, a resolved serenity appears,” Hamadani says.
The artist creates his “Traces” series simply by blowing ink on paper. “These are studies of chance and will. The process of making them is akin to searching for that which cannot be found. The images you see here have appeared through a process of decisions and accidents; and just as in life where much depends on chance, it is ultimately our decisions that give shape and meaning to this out-of-control process,” the artist says.
Hamadani’s “Odes” series is a study of light and shadow, which he says is the most basic preoccupation of the artist as well as of the moral being. “These works are explorations of the basic dualisms that we grapple with every day, often without even being aware of it,” he says.
Jyoti Kalsi is an arts-enthusiast based in Dubai.
“Fugues” will run at XVA Gallery, Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood, until November 14.
