ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Ali Banisadr's The Changing Past at Victoria Miro Explores Conflict and Memory

exhibition · 2026-04-22

Ali Banisadr's inaugural solo exhibition with Victoria Miro, titled The Changing Past, is currently on display in London until 11 November. This showcase includes paintings that serve as gateways to both artistic and political narratives, illustrating the artist's synesthetic interpretation of childhood trauma stemming from the Iranian revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. Born in Tehran in 1976, Banisadr relocated to California at the age of twelve, traveling through Turkey, and later pursued a BFA and MFA in New York City, where he currently lives. Notable pieces include Is time an arrow or a wheel? (2023) and These fragments I have shored against my ruins (2023), a 4.5-meter-wide canvas inspired by T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land. Queen of the Night (2022) references the Burney Relief from the British Museum, a Mesopotamian terracotta dating back to around 1750 BCE. Banisadr’s work intertwines his early trauma with adult interpretations of conflict, utilizing complex compositions to delve into themes of destruction, memory, and repetition.

Key facts

  • Ali Banisadr's solo exhibition 'The Changing Past' at Victoria Miro in London runs until 11 November.
  • This is Banisadr's first solo show with Victoria Miro since joining the gallery two years ago.
  • Banisadr was born in Tehran in 1976 and experienced the Iranian revolution at age three and the Iran-Iraq war at age four.
  • He moved to California at age twelve via Turkey and later studied BFA and MFA in New York City, where he now resides.
  • The painting 'Is time an arrow or a wheel?' (2023) includes the question written in small letters at the bottom.
  • 'These fragments I have shored against my ruins' (2023) is a 4.5-metre-wide canvas referencing T.S. Eliot's 'The Waste Land'.
  • 'Queen of the Night' (2022) references the Burney Relief, a Mesopotamian terracotta from c.1750 BCE at the British Museum.
  • Banisadr's 2006 painting 'The Waste Land' was inspired by a visit to Normandy and opened a new way for him to connect childhood trauma with adult readings.

Entities

Artists

  • Ali Banisadr

Institutions

  • Victoria Miro
  • British Museum

Locations

  • London
  • United Kingdom
  • Tehran
  • Iran
  • California
  • United States
  • Turkey
  • New York City
  • Normandy
  • France
  • southern Mesopotamia

Sources