Born in the United States, raised in Tehran and having lived between Canada and the Middle East since 1996, Babak Golkar has developed bodies of work, which attempt to maneuver and negotiate the space between these cultures. Examining the tension between pre-modern and modern traditions is often the direction of Golkar’s research, which can result in production of drawings, objects/installations, videos and performances.
Golkar’s recent works juxtapose specific Modernist tendencies, such as the use of Minimalist language in modern architecture, against very specific traditions of the Middle Eastern culture, such as the patterns found in nomadic Persian carpets. It is through this kind of juxtaposition that Golkar proposes cross-cultural re-examination and possibilities of dialogical contemplations on new forms and meanings.
