Psychedelic Paintings Cast a Colorful Eye on Food Trucks and Persian Miniatures

A looping, slightly asymmetrical tableau brims with colors and symbols like a visual cacophony. Never one to articulate in understated neutral tones, the Iranian artist, Iman Raad, welcomes the aesthetic vibrancy and spirit of decorated trucks from South Asia and miniature paintings from Iran. His first New York-based show is now on view at Sargent’s Daughters gallery, where his paintings and installations fill the space with unmitigated color. His techniques range from markers to egg tempera on panels.

The artist is a Masters of Fine Arts student at Yale University School of Art. His solo show, Tongue Tied, incorporates components of still life, hand-drawing, installation, and even watercolors. The repetitive nature of certain images in his paintings evoke the witnessing of an energetic moment in time somewhere tropical, but through a dilated kaleidoscope.

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Still Lives, 2016. Egg tempera on clayboard (primed panel), 9 x 12 in

Untitled (birds), 2016

Unnameable, 2016. Acrylic on wood and raw canvas, marker on paper, dyed used clothes, found windows, 100 x 70 x 40 in 

Still Lives, 2016. Egg tempera on clayboard (primed panel), 9 x 12 in

Untitled, 2017. Acrylic on raw canvas, 60 x 90 in

Iman Raad is based in Connecticut, but travels between New Haven, Connecticut and Tehran. His exhibit, Tongue Tied, will show at Sargent’s Daughters in New York from March 18 through April 23, 2016. Find more information about the exhibit on Sargent’s Daughter website, here.

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