ArtDayMe _ We are analyzing a painting by Figo Birjandian, executed in mixed media on canvas (140 × 120 cm), which is part of the Farhad Vafa Collection.

The work is structured on three dominant colors: silver-gray as the ground, red as an explosive force, and black as a structural guide. Red, with its intensity and heat, evokes eruption and vitality; black directs the flow of energy; and gray, as the backdrop, conveys silence and stability. This interplay creates a tension between passion and calm, between life and void.

Birjandian constructs the composition through diagonal strokes and free splashes of paint, leading the viewer’s gaze rapidly and spirally across the canvas. The lack of a central point reinforces a feeling of boundlessness. Black lines, scattered like free signatures, generate both structure and disorder. Red appears in dense patches or as streaks, imparting an explosive quality.

The use of mixed media results in layered and tactile textures. The gray surface, raised and scratched, introduces a physical materiality. The free splashes, inspired by the tradition of action painting, lend the piece a sense of spontaneity. The visual space is simultaneously flat and multi-layered: gray provides depth, while red pushes forward, intensifying the sensation of impact.

Despite its abstraction, the painting reveals meanings rooted in conflict and contrast: inner tension, emotional eruption, or the battle between forces of life and forces of silence. Red, as blood and vitality, confronts gray’s stillness, while black defines boundaries and constraints.

This work illustrates Birjandian’s mastery in merging raw energy with structural thought. The metallic gray textures give it a distinctive expressive quality that links it to Abstract Expressionism while asserting the artist’s personal voice.

The viewing experience unfolds in stages: first a visual shock from red’s intensity, then immersion in the black lines’ movement, and finally a pause within the gray calm. This sequence shapes an emotional journey of excitement, chaos, and stillness.

Birjandian’s painting may be read as a mirror of the contemporary world—an age marked by eruptions, tension, and the ongoing pursuit of serenity within chaos.

Figo Birjandian held his first solo exhibition in February 2025 at Ariana Gallery, Tehran, showcasing selected works from three series. All works were sold. Born in Tehran in 1989, he is a self-taught painter raised in an art-loving family. After studying at the Canadian University Dubai, he pursued painting professionally, with his large-scale canvases attracting the attention of cultural institutions and collectors alike.

This particular painting is housed in the collection of Farhad Vafa.