Kamrooz Aram: Lapis Intervention

One painting, one pot. Kamrooz Aram's Untitled (Arabesque Composition in Lapis Lazuli), made in 2021 with lapis lazuli oil paint on linen, hangs beside a cobalt-glazed, gilded ceramic made in Iran, probably Kashan, some seven centuries earlier.

You find the pair in the Museum Collections Gallery, among the permanent collection, and Aram chose the ceramic himself. His Arabesque series takes islimi, the scrolling plant designs that art historians long filed as mere ornament, and stretches them into abstract fields of colour. He says he wants to undo the hierarchy that ranks some painting as fine art and sends the rest to the "minor" arts.

It is two works, so treat it as a stop on a collection visit rather than a trip of its own. Entry is included with Museum admission, which is free for everyone on Wednesdays from 4 to 8pm.