The Romantic principles of spontaneous expression, intuition, mystery and inner truth guided William Blake (1757-1827) (also an important poet), whose paintings illustrated his complex prophetic vision, and William Turner (1775-1851), who painted intense, dramatic landscapes which became his path to create pure forms of oceanic scenes making him the father of Abstract Figurative art in the first half of the 19th century.

Kamran Khavarani is the heir to Blake and Turner as a painter of a new artistic outlook that should be known as Abstract Romanticism. This resembles the declarations of art critics in the mid 20th century that described the art of the New York School Artists Mark Rothko (1903-1970) and Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) as Abstract Expressionism. They shared an emphasis on the non-representational physicality of the painting and emotional engagement with the viewers.

Khavarani's massive array of light and colors mixed with myth and poetic current bears the trace of motion and emotions. He often prefers bare hands to traditional instruments (brush, sticks or palette knife) to incorporate the art of painting into the work itself. He forms highly expressive movements and dimensional values to communicate inner impulses and the obscurity of mythology and poetry to the viewers of his art.

Roshan Hubbard, Art and Film Historian and Lecturer
BFA - Painting and Art History CAGS - Visual Communication
November, 2004