Parham Ghalamdar: A Fine Kettle of Fish

A Kettle Of Fish, a phrase often used to describe an awkward or messy situation, embodies the chaos that Parham seeks to artistically order and make sense of. Parham’s overwhelming concern is that painting is about perception and it is an existentialist way to organise and present these experiences back to the audience.

The subject of Parham’s paintings reflects the absurd chaos unfolding around him, but his objective is to put things into order within the visual realm. Developed during the numerous lockdowns, these works reflect the artist’s self-referential experience as a painter removed from context. In the absence of a studio, audience, gallery and physical art scene, Parham had to renegotiate his practice.

Despite Parham’s intention to bring clarity to these experiences, there is tension in Parham’s work as he chooses to go back and disrupt the order by expanding his works outside of the canvas onto the gallery walls. The oil paintings themselves are heavily influenced by the sugar-coated and acidic colour palettes of graffiti, echoing back to his time as a graffiti artist in Tehran.

Parham Ghalamdar is a painter and animator based in Manchester. He specialises in oil painting with a background in graffiti and public art. He studied MA Painting at Manchester School of Art. Since the National Lockdown in 2020, he has been expanding his painting practice into the digital realm by making stop-motion animations and AI-generated works.