Published with Green Art Gallery, Dubai in conjunction with Kamrooz Aram’s exhibition ‘Palimpsest: Unstable Paintings for Anxious Interiors,’ 2014, this monograph on Kamrooz Aram presents the Palimpsest series, which was in part inspired by graffiti on the streets of New York and its constant painting-over by the authorities, only for it to become covered again in graffiti.
The ongoing cycle of painting, covering-up and repainting in the urban environment connects with Aram’s long-standing fascination with modernism and the legacies of abstract painting.
Aram explains: “The word palimpsest derives from the Greek term for a manuscript that has been scraped down so it can be reused. However, this process of erasure is always incomplete and traces of previous layers remain visible beneath the most recent marks. I find the idea of painting as palimpsest compelling because such a painting reveals its own past.” The relationship between the palimpsest and Aram’s practice is explored further in the publication in texts by Eva Diaz, Media Farzin and Murtaza Vali.
About the Artist
Kamrooz Aram’s work is rooted in the history and practice of painting, which he expands to include collage, photography, sculptural works and exhibition design. Aram’s work sets out to renegotiate the art historical hierarchy that places ornamental artforms in a category of value beneath fine art.
About the Contributors
Eva Diaz is a Professor of Contemporary Art at the Pratt Institute in New York.
Media Farzin and Murtaza Vali are both art historians and critics.
About the Publisher
Based in the United Kingdom, Anomie Publishing is an international publishing house dedicated to enabling quality art books—especially small and medium print-run titles—to reach the book trade by working in partnership with public and commercial galleries, museums, arts organisations, agencies, academic institutions, charities, collectors, established artist studios and private clients to publish or co-publish books.
