From the artist:
What art would resonate truthfully if made today, that really has a place in our time? I ask myself.
“That strange flower, the sun, Is just what you say. Have it your way.
The world is ugly, And the people are sad.”
These words by Wallace Stevens’s first book of poetry, Harmonium (1923), linger in my mind—he pictures a blunt voice bewildered between the world and imagination.
Iman Raad (b. 1979, Mashhad, Iran) is a Brooklyn-based visual artist, designer, and educator. He holds an MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Yale University, and is presently teaching at The Cooper Union School of Art.
Across his diverse work, Raad brings together a sweeping reimagining of traditional Persian painting amidst the interruption of images and narratives in the internet era. Oscillating between disparate areas of knowledge, Raad references a culture indexically rooted within his thoughts. Curiosity is given a place to breathe. Images are fractured or incomplete. Moments from different art histories are filtered into a language of comfort and contented longing, memories of a smell of a place far away; a repetition of imagery and color whose intention is to keep you in a disturbed reality.
In Raad’s paintings, objects tumble and waver, provoked by swathes of restless birds. Through this prism of layers and colors, Raad has found a necessary platform to touch on both the complexities and beauty of cross cultural expression today.
This print was produced as a fundraising edition for the 2024 East Village Zine Fair in support of both Printed Matter / St Marks and 8-Ball Community. Learn more about the fair [here.](www.printedmatter.org/east-village-zine-fair-2024]
