Kamrooz Aram and Maria Teresa Venturini Fendi at the McKim Medal Gala on Wednesday 5 June. Photo by Gerardo Geatani.
ROME – Last Wednesday 5 Junethe Iranian artist Kamrooz Aram was awarded the Carla Fendi Rome Prize by Nina Pons Fendiduring the evening McKim Medal Galaa charity event to support residencies for artists and scholars atAmerican Academy in Rome.
An award for the visual arts
The Carla Fendi Rome Prize, now in its second edition, was established in 2022 by Maria Teresa Venturini Fendi, President of the Carla Fendi Foundation. The award aims to support visual artists through a five-month residency at the Academy, encouraging interaction between different cultures.
Kamrooz Aram
Kamrooz Aram, who lives and works in Brooklyn, was chosen for the residency in Rome by virtue of his continuation exploration of the boundaries between art, architecture, artefacts and methods of exposure. Through different media such as painting, sculpture, collage, photography and exhibition designAram investigates the interactions and contaminations between different artistic traditions.
The residency project: Renegotiating Ornaments
During the months of residency, from February to July 2024, Aram developed the project Renegotiating Ornaments which explores the traditions of architectural and decorative painting in Italy, many of which were influenced by Islamic art and architecture. The goal is to highlight how these influences interrupt a Eurocentric vision of the historical-artistic canonproposing a more inclusive and global reading.
International recognition
Aram’s works have found space in important international galleries and museums, including the Peter Blum Gallery, the Arts Club of Chicago, the FLAG Art Foundation, the Green Art Gallery, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Atlanta Contemporary and the Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens. This summer, Aram also exhibits at Expodemic: Festival of Foreign Academies and Cultural Institutes at Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, until 25 August 2024.
The awarding of the Carla Fendi Rome Prize to Kamrooz Aram, in addition to recognizing his talent and artistic commitment, also underlines the importance of cultural contamination and the search for new perspectives in the contemporary artistic panorama.
