Painter Ali Banisadr on Synesthesia, Meditation, and the Infinite Possibilities of a Blank Canvas

Known for his abstract compositions, the New York–based artist Ali Banisadr recently described his paintings as “quite encyclopedic” and “trying to gather different fragments of information and knowledge from different sources,” as he told Brooke Jaffe during an “ARTnews Live,” our ongoing IGTV series featuring interviews with a range of creatives.
Influenced by classic literature and the work of Old Masters like Bruegel, Bosch, and Goya, Banisadr a