Y.Z. KAMI
Installation view, photo by Douglas M. Parker Studio
Y.Z. KAMI
Installation view, photo by Douglas M. Parker Studio
Y.Z. KAMI
Installation view, photo by Douglas M. Parker Studio
Y. Z. Kami
Untitled, 2006
Oil on canvas, 132 × 74 inches (335.3 × 188 cm)
Y. Z. Kami
Rumi-The Book of Massnavi E Manavi III, 2007
Mixed media on linen, 90 × 99 inches (228.6 × 251.5 cm)
Y. Z. Kami
Endless Prayers III, 2007
Mixed media on paper, 42 × 29 ¾ inches (106.7 × 75.6 cm)
Y. Z. Kami
Endless Prayers II, 2007
Mixed media on paper, 42 × 29 ¾ inches (106.7 × 75.6 cm)
Y. Z. Kami
Endless Prayers XVI, 2007
Mixed media on paper, 42 × 29 ¾ inches (106.7 × 75.6 cm)
Y. Z. Kami
Untitled (Marina I), 2007
Oil on canvas, 98 × 64 inches (248.9 × 162.6 cm)
Y. Z. Kami
Untitled (Acharya), 2007
Oil on linen, 140 × 70 inches (355.6 × 177.8 cm)
The soul is not obscured by forms.
Even if it were wrapped in a hundred folds of felt
the rays of the soul’s light
would still shine through.
— Rumi
Gagosian is pleased to announce an exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Iranian born artist Y.Z. Kami. This will be his first exhibition in Los Angeles with Gagosian Gallery.
The flux between matter and spirit, life and mortality, the outer layer and the inner soul lies at the core of Kami’s oeuvre. Kami binds his study of Sufi poetry and philosophy to the traditions of figure painting, portraiture and collage. His works reflect a diverse range of interests, from portraiture to architectural domes, from photography to sacred and literary texts.
The artists address their shared ardor for poetry, the surfaces of painting, and nature.
Y.Z. Kami and curator Steven Henry Madoff sit down in Kami’s studio to discuss the artist’s exhibition at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, Spain. Entitled Y.Z. Kami: De forma silenciosa/In a Silent Way, the survey features portraits; images of buildings, both sacred and ordinary; a sculptural installation of loose bricks inscribed with texts; and recent dreamlike abstractions.
In celebration of the release of the monograph Y.Z. Kami: Works 1985–2018, and in advance of an exhibition of new works by the artist at Gagosian, Rome, Ziba Ardalan and Elena Geuna sat down to discuss Y.Z. Kami’s work. The conversation was moderated by Gagosian’s Kay Pallister.
An exhibition at Gagosian, Paris, is raising funds to aid in the reconstruction of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris following the devastating fire of April 2019. Gagosian directors Serena Cattaneo Adorno and Jean-Olivier Després spoke to Jennifer Knox White about the generous response of artists and others, and what the restoration of this iconic structure means across the world.
Elena Geuna interviews the artist on the subjects of his childhood, his approach to portraiture, and the centrality of light in his practice.
The Summer 2019 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring a detail from Afrylic by Ellen Gallagher on its cover.
Blaise Pascal, the seventeenth-century mathematician and philosopher, served as a crucial inspiration for Y.Z. Kami’s newest body of work. Angela Brown examines Pascal’s ideas and their relevance to these portraits and Dome paintings.
Y.Z. Kami and Peter Marino discuss the power of bronze, the current state of architecture, and the infinite.
During preparations for an exhibition in London, Y.Z. Kami met with Gagosian’s Alison McDonald to discuss the evolution of his work, technique, and his combination of influences.
