“Un objet, un geste” (An object, a gesture,) Kamrooz Aram’s first solo exhibition in France, calls into question critical hierarchies perpetuated by qualifiers like decorative and non-Western. In the largest painting on view, Untitled (Arabesque Composition in Lapis Lazuli), 2019, curvaceous forms in contrasting shades of brilliant blue are surrounded by a border of untouched linen support. As in other paintings from the Iranian-born artist’s “Arabesque” series (2018–), Aram here recasts so-called ornamental flourishes as the main event while creating a frame—typically, a marker of value that is itself ornate—whose blankness seems anything but neutral. Throughout the exhibition and across various media (see, for example, the play between flat planes and sculptural elements in the installation Composition with lapis lazuli, cobalt and ceramic bottle, 2021), Aram underscores how motifs and materials outside the Euro-American canon have historically been devalued and exploited.
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