As he prepares for a two-part exhibition in Florence, the Tehran-born, Brooklyn-based artist discusses his life and work through the cultural epiphanies and influences that have shaped him. He talks about drawing in the basement of his family home as the Iran-Iraq war raged around him as a child and how visiting the D-Day landing beaches in Normandy prompted a turning point in his work. He talks about the auditory-visual synaesthesia that means he hears and feels the paintings as he creates them. He recalls life-changing encounters with Michelangelo and Hieronymus Bosch, reflects on his love of epic poetry and Sufi verse, and discusses the music he listens to as he works. And, of course, he answers those tricky questions that close all the A brush with... interviews: if you could live with just one work of art, what would it be? And what is art for? This episode is sponsored by Cork Street Galleries.

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