Kamrooz Aram (born in Shiraz, Iran, 1978) is a contemporary artist whose work explores themes relating to systems of belief, including nationalist, religious, and artistic ideologies. Aram’s work uses iconography as well as abstraction to present the viewer with imagery that challenges reductive and binaristic ways of seeing some of the social, cultural, and political issues of today. His paintings, drawings and collages have been known to bring together traditional and contemporary cultural references to create scenes reflecting “the carnivalesque, absurd, magical and scary present day.” [1]
Aram received his MFA from Columbia University in 2003. He has had solo exhibitions at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASSMoCA), North Adams, MA; Wilkinson Gallery, London; Oliver Kamm/5BE Gallery, New York; Perry Rubenstein Gallery, New York; and LAXART, Los Angeles, CA. His work has been included in various group exhibitions internationally including roundabout (2010), the Busan Biennale (2006), P.S.1/MoMA’s Greater New York 2005, and the Prague Biennale I (2003). His work has been featured and reviewed widely in publications such as Art in America, Artforum.com, The New York Times, Asian Art Newspaper, ArtAsiaPacific, The Village Voice, and the arts and culture segment on BBC Farsi, Tamasha. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.