“Behrad Motekallem is an Iranian-Canadian artist based in Montréal, Quebec. His allegoric, semi-abstract paintings are visually informed in equal parts by classical painting traditions and contemporary urban environments. The juxtaposition of scratch marks and rhythmic brush strokes simultaneously invoke the visual language of tattered advertisement posters and the meditative calligraphy paintings of Asia. These various contrasting and harmonizing elements come together in the work to ultimately revolve around the central theme of Urban Decay.”