Hesam Rahmanian (born Knoxville, 1980) lives and works in Dubai. His works begin
from found fragments – a discarded household object, for example, an innocuous
shape in a polaroid or a smear of hardened, leftover paint – that have some glancing
resemblance to a body, a face or an animal. From this simple bricolage, Rahmanian
searches for ways that he can develop his impressions, either on canvas or as
assemblage, with a playfulness and spontaneity that is faithful to his initial glimpse.
This first-thought- best-thought way of working has emerged steadily from the artist’s
early painting series, which were underpinned by metaphor and social
commentary. Rahmanian has held solo exhibitions at Gallery Isabelle van den
Eynde, Dubai (2013), Paradise Row, London (2011) and Traffic, Dubai (2010). He
also participated in a group show at the Royal College of Art in London as one of the
eight finalists for the MOP CAP prize (2011). He also works collaboratively with
Ramin and Rokni Haerizadeh, and the three artists have staged two collaborative
exhibitions in Dubai (2012, 2014). In 2014, Rahamanian and the Haerizadeh
brothers attended the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation’s residency programme in
Captiva, Florida.
