The vivid, expressive paintings of Ramzi Ghotbaldin are rooted in his Kurdish cultural identity as well as lived experiences in Kurdistan and his adoptive homeland of France. Born in Khanaqin, Kurdistan, in 1955 to a family of photographers, Ghotbaldin grew up participating in his father's and grandfather's studio practices. This exposure to art from an early age led him to study Graphics at the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad in 1975, where he was known to his classmates as "Ramzi Pastel," a name that still applies even though Ghotbaldin now mixes oil with pastel in his work. From 1982 to 1990, Ghotbaldin became heavily involved with the Kurdish resistance to Saddam Hussein's regime as a Peshmerga, relocating to Iranian Kurdistan from present-day Iraq. After exhibiting his work in Tehran, Ghotbaldin was invited to Paris in 1990 to participate in an exhibition of Kurdish art. Despite his commitment to the Peshmerga cause, Ghotbaldin's experiences abroad led him to decide to settle in Paris, where he felt he could freely pursue his painting. Of his current practice, Ghotbaldin has stated, "To serve my country, Kurdistan, I have chosen art now."[1] Yet, in spite of the artist's firm political beliefs, his paintings offer subtle, open-ended visions that capture nebulous memories or settings from the artist's everyday life. Ghotbaldin feels strongly that his work should also reflect the influences and environment of his host country in addition to his personal cultural history.

Ghotbaldin's work has been featured in museums and galleries across Europe and North America, including Galerie Callu Mérite, Paris; Galerie de l'Ermitage, Le Touquet, France; Vienna Museum; Hrefna Jonsdottir Gallery, Lambertville, NJ; Kurdish Institute of Paris; Foundry Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Centre d'Art Contemporain Saint-Cyprien; and many others. Ghotbaldin lives and works in Paris.

CEJ

[1] Yerevan Saeed, "In Washington, Exhibit Highlights Kurdish Identity," Rudaw, June 9, 2014, accessed June 4, 2015, http://rudaw.net/mobile/english/culture/06092014.