The four small-scale paintings collectively titled and numbered The Subterranean Realms brings us to a shadowy, enclosed world. Is this where we dream? Can we always tell where a dream ends and reality begins? By provoking viewers to ask questions, such as these, Banisadr pulls us deeper into his work. After a while, we become lost in the looking, at times unsure of what we are examining, especially in this group of paintings. That unsureness infuses these works with an emotional edge and a sense of foreboding, akin to how we feel when we wake up from a mysterious dream full of indecipherable signs. By inviting us to ponder his paintings and all the many associations they evoke, from catastrophic natural events to miraculous occurrences, Banisadr directs us back to the world we inhabit, full of inexplicable mysteries.
