THE OPEN PROJECT

Alex’s abstractions are drawings with paint, layered like construction lines in architectural drawings, where the lines evoke spatial connotation. Born in Stuttgart, Germany to an Italian mother and Iranian father, Alex moved from Germany to Iran, Iran to Switzerland, Switzerland to California, California to New York, New York to Italy, and back to New York. In 1982 he studied Architecture at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. Disillusioned with the pragmatics of architectural education and influenced by Raimund Abraham, he transferred to Cooper Union for two years, but eventually found the Architecture program too rigid. He returned to Pratt and finished his education there.

At first, he worked for a few famous architects in France and Berlin, but eventually decided to return to New York to pursue being an artist. In 1993, he returned to Italy and took over his father’s rug shop in Imperia. This became his studio, and a space to exhibit his work. Eventually his work overtook the space, and became an installation covering the entire store, with tarp fabric hanging from the ceiling, flowing like paint inside a cavernous room. At this time, he produced the series of ‘Automatic Paintings’ where he placed a tube with holes on the wall as paint was pushed through, eventually producing wall paintings. He exhibited at La Talpa e L’orologio, Imperia, Italy, and Passo Blu Gallery, Genoa, Italy.

Upon return to New York in 2007, Amini worked between dematerializing objects, and producing a series of works on photo paper known as ‘Recordings.’ He exhibited these works in group shows at Project B, Milan, and Xerxes Gallery, London. The ‘Recordings’ are works on photo paper that trace the movement of paint, as it is recorded onto the photo paper, which is sensitive to liquids. This was part of his experiment with automatic paintings and the self-made. He exhibited the ‘Recordings’ at NYU, New York, and at Art Seen 107 Gallery in Arkansas in 2011.

In Alex’s most recent work, the ‘Cuppings’ series, he fills a cup with paint and flips the cup over to produce marks until the paint is finished. This returns Alex back to drawing and doodling, albeit with a cup filled with paint. The cup is pushed across the canvas on a flat surface, and the lines move and pause until the paint runs out, and it is pulled off one edge. Often Alex paints on both sides of the canvas, looking for traces and markings on the other side, making the two sides of the painting and equally spatial object. The colors, which he believes are a byproduct of the process, add to the sense of depth of each piece. Alex’s intensity and refusal to participate, in search of the primal, adds to the magic of the work.

Selected Works

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