Perhaps now, more than ever, we have all assessed what is meaningful in life and what matters the most. After a pandemic erupted, an inexcusable war now being waged and then factoring in climate change becoming more readily apparent, society is now standing up for real-authentic causes. Less of the token charitable action and more of the real deal regarding supporting your beliefs.
For world-renowned artist Davood Roostaei, this includes being proactive in opposing the war in Ukraine and reflecting on what it was like to grow up in a war-torn country in his youth.
As a native Iranian who disagreed with the country’s regime, he was imprisoned for two years due to subversive graffiti art on the streets of Iran he called home. Shortly after, he left Iran, sought asylum in Germany, and currently resides in Los Angeles.
After years of training with renowned art historian Albert Boime, he developed a painting method that has been christened Cryptorealism. Some might argue this is nothing more than child’s play or finger painting.
But this method employs a hands-only technique and truly connects the artist with his mediums. He has been using this method to express himself since 1990, with no brushes. Eliminating barriers to artistic expression and creating a hands-on authenticity have made him a critical success in the art community.
The visceral connection he achieves by executing his art with his bare hands gives his work a somewhat three-dimensional or architectural aspect.
Davood has been using this method for over 30 years and has a singular conviction that is rather telling. It allows for intensity in his artistic portrayals, embodying personal experience and vibrancy that orchestrates its palette with a whirlwind of enthusiasm.
Evocative of Pollock’s work, Cryptorealism means a hidden meaning or visual waiting to be discovered underneath the chaos. It’s a considered effort to hide the desired image at first glance and engages the viewer to spend time experiencing the artwork. Active participation, if you will.
Subtlety is what makes his art pieces so unique. They usually require a thoughtful amount of time to appreciate the message, the core expression of the work. Not unlike a game of hiding and seek, the viewer may never stop engaging with the art.
However, his latest piece dispenses with some of his trademark subtlety.
When it came to supporting war-torn Ukraine, the natural choice was to create a piece that would raise funds for the relief effort. Expected to fetch seven figures, the Ukraine relief painting will likely attract a rarefied audience. Fans of his work famously include Hillary Clinton, Anthony Hopkins, and Paul McCartney.
The latest work, ‘Imagine — 2022’, is expansive at 8 x 12 feet in size. And it certainly does not shy away from the topic. That is the reason it has come into being. Less cryptic by nature, it depicts the horrors of war less subtly and leaves the viewer with a unique understanding of its message. It would be hard to escape the meaning of this piece and the effect of the picture on its observer.
What is challenging to process for the average art observer is how his art can have such exacting detail when created without brushes and entirely done by hand. His painstaking methods for making his craft by hand are exceptionally precise and almost hard to believe.
By layering meaning and contexts, Davood has become a well-known ‘disruptor’ of the art community, which took some time for critics and enthusiasts to acclimate to. His methods and choice of abstract conceptual content that invites his audience to engage in discovering meaning have made him sought after in the contemporary world of art collection today.
With his political roots and origins in Iran through to his experiences via imprisonment, Davood has a unique perspective that informs his work. To this day, he remains a politically outspoken individual and renders much of his work towards his expression of those views.
Davood often contributes proceeds of his sales to various international causes that are meaningful to him and continues to inform his art with politically charged issues.
Davood Roostaei is currently on exhibit at the Vancouver Fine Art Gallery with a selection of works available. View the pieces available and inquire here for more information and pricing.
