French-Iranian artist Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar’s star is on the rise. The artist, known for abstract, emotive paintings derived from his personal experience of post-revolution Iran, set a new personal public record just earlier this month—a work of Behnam-Bakhtiar’s was sold for €115,000 at Phillips’ 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale in London.
Now, Behnam-Bakhtiar is set to unveil a new solo exhibition furthering his signature style of peinture raclée oil painting. Titled The Age of Energy, the selling exhibition follows closely behind a retrospective sale of the late great French artist Pierre Soulages—a metaphorical passing of the torch, if you will, from one French artist to another.
Behnam-Bakhtiar’s latest body of work—presented by auction house PhillipsX with the support of German gallery SETAREH—features 13 oil paintings exploring themes of loss of identity and disconnect. Familiar lines of thought for the artist, whose work often deals with the traumas of the Iran-Iraq war. More specifically, the paintings in The Age of Energy explore reawakening and spiritual connections. Through abstract and figurative paintings, built around a motif of the internal structure of trees, Behnam-Bakhtiar uncovers ideas of recovery and healing.
“Each piece from this body provides a window to a constant reality in our lives” explains the artist, alluding to the abstract yet very palpable idea of energy. He further likens energy to “life’s true essence”, imagining it—when found in nature—to be a source of healing.
Exhibition curator Kamiar Maleki, who was recently appointed the fair director of Photo London, describes the show’s themes of identity and loss as especially impactful today. According to Maleki, the artist’s latest energy paintings “serve as a powerful tool for helping viewers process their own experience of trauma, and invites viewers to grow with him on this path to recovery.”
The ideas of growth and recovery have also seeped into The Age of Energy as an advancement of Behnam-Bakhtiar’s peinture raclée technique. It’s a method of oil painting in which layers of blended pigments are intricately scraped, laid and spread numerous times over a linen canvas. These layers are painted over and over—taking several months and sometimes years—to create a visual complexity meant to reference and evoke feelings of alienation, disconnection and spiritual displacement.
In these Energy paintings, Behnam-Bakhtiar worked in that style to introduce a sense of the interior textures and physicality of trees. The trees serve as a direct reminder of and connection to the positive, transformative effects of natural energy. The exhibition notes describe it as a “healing power” that has the ability to bolster one’s connection with the larger world.
“This is a remarkable body of work which is not only visually captivating but also extremely thought-provoking,” offers Miety Heiden, Deputy Chairwoman and Head of Private Sales at Phillips. The Energy paintings, adds Phillips Director and Senior Specialist of 20th Century & Contemporary Art, Tamila Kerimova, have a meditative effect. “Set in our spectacular light-filled space at Berkeley Square, I am confident that this presentation will be a truly memorable experience.”
The Age of Energy runs from 16 to 26 March 2023, at 30 Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6EX.
