Collection: Amir Kamand

Amir Kamand (b. 1960) is a sculptor who works mainly in polychrome wood. During his career in plastic injection molding, metal machining and lathing, he was introduced to the use of wax and started to make sculptures with it, but soon decided that wood was a superior material. His colourful, vibrant and frequently funny sculptures combine elements drawn from his own experience (e.g. as a former skier and boxer) and subconscious with references to icons of both western and oriental pop culture, cinema, poetry and literature. His work has featured in three Annual Outsider Exhibitions, and more recently was shown at the Palais de Tokyo as part of the summer blockbuster City Prince/sses in 2019 where he started making larger-scale works combining multiple figures. He is now working on creating more immersive, themed installations that will throw up interactions between specific characters, developing the storytelling potential of his work.

Amir Kamand's iconography revolves around a core catalogue of recurring characters. Cheeky gorillas stick out their tongues while offering bouquets of flowers, teasing British guardsmen with bananas or taking selfies. Flying saucers, on flaming tripods of rocket thrust, disgorge little green men and other aliens. Gaudily-dressed skiers form human totems, or career down slopes, scarves trailing behind them on the wind; samurais battle sumo wrestlers; boxers, wrestlers and muscle-men carry the Lion and Sun, emblems of Iran, on their bulging biceps; soccer-players clash as they leap to head the ball; Mickey Mouse pumps iron… Together, Kamand's works make up a multicoloured, multifaceted surrealist panorama blending autobiography, fantasy and science fiction.