Persi Darukhanawala

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New & Noteworthy Artist

Persi Darukhanawala creates paintings which belong to everyone who chooses to look, challenging prevailing ideas around boundaries between artist and observer.

The outcome of Persi’s craft comes second to the dialogue he hopes it will spark in the reaction of the viewer.

The ‘centre-under-siege’ is a recurrent theme in Darukhanawala’s circular artworks which he often refers to as “songs”.

The art of Persian Zoroastrian artist Persi Darukhanawala is about communication and connection. Persi creates abstract and minimalist paintings which call into question expectations surrounding how art should be received and understood. Unsettling and restarting the dialogue between creator and observer stands at the heart of Darukhanawala’s artistic practice. His work provides viewers with the freedom to metabolize their own pathway of communication with his art, prizing their inner response and understanding, away from prevailing and oppressive narratives.

Persi Darukhanawala’s artistic process

Persi works almost exclusively in acrylic on paper. A sense of conservation or even existential continuance is fundamental to the ethos of Persi’s artistic process. His circular artworks - the circle being a Zoroastrian symbol of eternity - such as The Flames of Andy Warhol and Prisoner Number One - Pain Grey often show a clear centre under siege. These open-and-between spaces define and expand the moment where the artist and viewer meet; a contained period of self-awareness and transformation where the viewer is invited to explore their own, individual response to the piece, again and again, and again.

Early Career and Awards

Persi’s interest in the art of language and communication was piqued during his studies of German and French before he went on to pursue an MA at London’s Courtauld Institute of Art. Persi has consistently attracted significant academic and commercial interest since the beginning of his career. Recently, he was shortlisted for the prestigious Art Olympia Prize 2017 in Tokyo, for which he was given Honourable Mention.