| 'Practical Instruction for Safeguarding and Survival' Parham Ghalamdar, 2019, Oil on canvas, 30 x 35 cm | | 40 Conduit Street
London W1S 2YQ
+44 (0) 203 912 8400
https://theconduit.com
Now showing
until 16th October 2020
by appointment or to Conduit members | | Workplace Foundation is delighted to present the first solo exhibition in London of Iranian born artist Parham Ghalamdar.
Painted in intense acidic colour, surreal forms and structures inhabit desolate and empty landscapes. Uncanny and strange these objects adhere to rigorous placement, assimilating elements drawn from a diverse range of Western and Middle-Eastern Art History such as Caravaggio, Goya, Bouguereau, Soviet Socialist realism, graffiti, pop culture and traditional Persian miniatures.
Parham Ghalamdar's works switch between the aesthetics of realism and the cartoon. Through this absurdist strategy Ghalamdar obfuscates narrative enabling the painting to stand alone, resistant to a didactic reading. The considered, rational structuring of his paintings stand as a counterpoint to the oppressive weight of dogmatic ideology that Parham experienced in his homeland. | | Born in Tehran, Iran in 1994, Parham Ghalamdar studied Printing and Media at the Art University in Tehran. Parham was a founding member of ELF Crew, the first graffiti collective in Iran. ELF became known for their transgressive and coded resistance to the regime and their liberal progressive subculture. Arrested multiple times for graffiti Parham was eventually detained indefinitely in the West of Iran in 2014 where interrogations became more forceful and the authorities began to investigate his associations and social networks more thoroughly. Fearing for his life (his sexuality, if exposed, would be punishable by death) Parham managed to escape Iran, travelling through Asia before being granted asylum in the UK. In 2019 he completed his BA in Fine Art, Painting at Manchester School of Art.
Previous exhibitions include Parham Ghalamdar Workplace Foundation, Gateshead; Stretch, P.S Mirabel Gallery, Manchester; Graffiti, Vandalism and Protest in Iran: An Archival Curation, People's History Museum, Manchester; Super Brain, Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk, UK; Kamil Gallery, Monaco; Art, social space and public discourse in Iran, Coulter Art Gallery, Stanford, USA; Contemporary Iranian Art, Sotheby's Los Angeles; The Mine Gallery, Dubai, UAE; Affenfaust Gallery, Hamburg; Few scenes from paradise, Atbin Gallery, Tehran. Parham Ghalamdar lives and works in Manchester, UK | |
Now streaming
Parham Ghalamdar in conversation with Jenny Eden at Workplace Foundation
Watch now | | |
Now available
Available works by Parham Ghalamdar
Click here | | |
In depth
'Between the Back and the Loin'
Parham Ghalamdar at Workplace Foundation
by Jenny Eden
Read now | | | 
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theconduit.com | | | | About Workplace Foundation | | Workplace Foundation is a registered charity that supports emerging and under-represented artists with a focus on the North of England. Workplace Foundation was founded by Workplace Gallery in 2017 and is based in The Old Post House in Gateshead town centre. We are core funded by Arts Council England as part of their National Portfolio of Organisations and depend on grants from Trusts and Foundations as well as philanthropic donations from private individuals.
If you would like to make a donation to Workplace Foundation to support us in our work please contact us here. | | | | |
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