Light, Gaze, Presence: Y.Z. Kami in Florence

Light, Gaze, Presence, is the title of the exhibition of the Iranian artist Y.Z. Kami, that takes place in different spaces of the city: Museo Novecento, Museo di Palazzo Vecchio, Museo degli Innocenti and, exceptionally, in the millenary Abbey of San Miniato al Monte.

The Iranian-American artist offers us 24 works including the portraits that made him known to the international public and works from the Dome and Night Paintings series.
Kami starts from photographs of friends or strangers to create his "blurry" portraits, like memories that slip away, images that the mind can’t quite hold on to.
Most of the portraits are on display at the Museo Novecento.Others, like Untitled (2011), Untitled (Woman in Green Sweater) (2006) and Marwin (2013-2014), are in the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio, in dialogue with the works of Vasari.At the Museo degli Innocenti we find the mixed media work entitled Gold Dome II (2022) and the sculptural work entitled Brunelleschi (Death Mask) (2022-2023).
Finally, in the location of excellence of the Abbey of San Miniato al Monte, we find Paul's hands (2015-17).Kami draws on inspiration from a variety of sources, from portraiture, to Egyptian funerary portraits to mosaics to philosophy.

The artist uses oil paint in a way that resembles frescoes and wall paintings of the Byzantine and early Renaissance era. To develop this technique he experimented with oils, dry pigments, and powders.
"Spiritual" is the word that comes to mind looking at one of his works, the experience of this exhibition surely has some of that. Must see!