Ali Banisadr is originally from Tehran, but moved to America when he was a child; his works are influenced by his experiences as a refugee from the Iran-Iraq war and his approach to abstraction evokes connotations to displacement, memory, nostalgia and violence. In The Name Of possesses all the qualities of a fantastical landscape, its rich aromatic colours disseminating a fairytale orientalism that’s both majestic and medieval. Amidst his lush surface, splendour gives way to embellished anarchy and carnage as onslaughts of painterly gestures replicate the chaos of an attack. The fractured background, reminiscent of stained glass, is inspired by his recollection of the sound of shattering windows during bombings. This synaesthetic connection between auditory memory and visualisation is consistent throughout his work.