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 press
clips
summer academy
currently
on
workshops
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| Contemporary
artists from Wadi Al Rafidain |
"The
private collection of The Arab Bank and The Abdul Hameed
Shoman Foundation"
"Art in the Mesopotamia has
always been like its people, who have been the product
of the land and climate. They have never reached decadence
and never achieved perfection: for them perfection of
craftsmanship has been a limitation on their self-expression.
Their work has been crude inventive, has had a vigor and
boldness which would not have been possible with a more
refined technique. The artist has always been free to
express himself, even amid the state of Assyrian, where
the true artist speaks through the drama of the wounded
beast."
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Jawad
Salim (1919 - 1961)
Founder of The Baghdad Modern Art Group, 1951
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| Iraq |
| Shaker
Hassan Al Said (1925) |
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Oil on canvas, 1992 (120 x 120cm) |
1925
Born in Samawa, Iraq
1942
Studied sociology and Fine Arts at the Institute
of Fine Arts in Baghdad
1955-1959
Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Art in Paris
1971
Founded "Al Bu'd al Wahad" the "Unidimentional
Group."
He introduced the alphabet and the Arabic number
to abstract art.
He is known for his collages that combine philosophical
signs with the notion of space and light
Works and lives in Baghdad |
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1934
Born in Basra, Iraq
1956-1958
Studied arts under the supervision of the pioneers
of Iraqi artists Jawad Salim and Fae'k Hassan at
the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad
1964
High Diploma of sculpture from the Academy of Fine
Arts, Rome
Currently teaches at the Academy of Fine Arts in
Baghdad
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Bronze
Sculpture |
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Oil on canvas on wood
(100 x 90cm)
1999 |
1937
Born in Najaf, Iraq
A Self taught artist who lived in Saudi Arabia
Works and lives in Iraq
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1938
Born in Basra, Iraq
1959
Diploma in Graphics and Painting, Academy of Fine
Arts, Warsaw - Poland
He was the first to introduce texture into his
work
He specializes in photocollages combined with
mixed media, and work lately on graphic art (etching)
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Works and lives Baghdad
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Oil
on canvas
(80 x 63cm)
1992 |
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Dhia
Azzawi (1939)
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(71 x 56cm)
1984 |
1939
Born in Baghdad
Majored in Archeology, in the early sixties, and
attended evening art classes at Institute of Fine
Arts in Baghdad
Works and lives in London since 1975
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1940
Born in Takrit
1956-1959
Studied painting in Baghdad
1959-1963
Graphic art in Peking, China
1967-1969
Graphic art in Lisbon, Portugal
1974-1975
Attended the graphic art courses of the summer
academy of Salzbourgh
1993-1995
Headed the Graphic studio activities at Darat
Al Funun
1992-1997
Lecturer at the Yarmouk University, Irbid
- Jordan
Lives in Bahrain since 1997
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Acrylic on paper
(80 x 60cm)
1992 |
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Oil on canvas
(125 x 120cm)
1993 |
1941
Born in Mossul, Iraq
1961-1965
Graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts and
the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad
1967
Studied art at the Portuguese Artists Association,
Lisbon
He currently teaches art at the Institute of Fine
Arts , Baghdad
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Nuha
Al Radi (1941)
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1941
Born in Baghdad
1961-1963
Trained at Byamshaw School of Art, and Chelsea
Pottery, London
1971-1975
Teacher at the American University of Beirut
Works and lives in Beirut
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Installation
1995 |
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Mixed
media on wood
(80 x 100cm)
1992
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1944
Born in Basra, Iraq
1962-1966
Studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts ,
Baghdad
1965
Founder member of the "Innovationist Group"
1977-1980
College of Applied Arts, Cairo
1991-1998
Lecturer at the Yarmouk University, Irbid
Now lives in Holland
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1960
Born in Karkouk, Iraq
Member, Artist Union and Iraqi Fine Arts Organization
Works and lives Paris
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Oil on canvas
(100 X 118cm)
1990
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| Karim
Rassan Mansour (1960) |
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Mixed
media on paper
(82 x 71.5cm)
1991 |
1960
Born in Baghdad
1987-1988
Studied at the Fine Arts Academy, Baghdad
Member of the Iraqi Artists Union and Plastic
Artists Association, Iraq
Works and lives Baghdad
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1962
Born in Baghdad
1980-1984
Studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts,
Baghdad
Member of the Iraqi Artists Association
Works and lives in Canada since 1997
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Oil on canvas
(82 x 80cm)
1994 |
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| Nadim
Muhsin (1962) |
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Threads
& paper on wooden frame
(100 x 100cm)
1993 |
1962
Born in Baghdad
1980-1986
Graphic art , Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad
1988-1990
Sculpture , Fine Arts Academy, Baghdad
1980-1990
Illustrator at the "Children Cultural House"
Works and lives in Amsterdam since 1996
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Halim
Mahdi Hadi (1963)
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1963
Born in Najaf, Iraq
1983-1988
Ceramics Fine Art Academy, Iraq
Lives in Holland
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(260 x 70cm) |
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| Samer
Osama (1964) |
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Lead
& mixed media on wood
(120 x 100cm)
1998 |
1964
Born in Baghdad
1985
Diploma from the Graphic Art Department, Institute
of Fine Arts, Baghdad
1998
Graphic studio supervisor at Darat Al Funun
Works and lives in Jordan
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There were in the fifties three major groups, each led
by a prominent painter, which embodied this struggle
for the recognition of the artist and his view of the
world: the S.P. (Society Primitive) , led by Fayek Hassan,
the Baghdad Modern Art group, led by Jawad Selim, and
the Impressionists ( made up largely of post-impressionists
and cubists),led by Hafidh Droubi. These groups have
remained fairly active until recent years, comprising
in all about fifty painters and sculptors. As more and
more artists returned from their studies abroad ( in
London , Paris, Rome , Warsaw, Zagreb, even Peking)
or graduated from Baghdad's own Fine Arts Institute
and fine arts academy (the later being part of Baghdad
University), groups in the sixties tended to multiply
or splinter off, with many artists, of course, preserving
their independence. There where the Academicians, the
Innovationists, the New Vision Group, the one Dimensionists
and others. each group prided itself on being revolutionary
and after its own fashion, ranging in its creed from
the intensely political to the intensely religious or
mystic. Actually the ideological lines, political or
otherwise, often cut across the groups formations in
a remarkable way. what mattered in the final analysis
was individual talent: the brilliant creators where
of there own making each group contributed its valuable
share the general discussion and examination of ideas,
just as it also made exhibitions easier to hold for
the artists themselves.
One fact that has always to be recognized in understanding
Arab art today is that however revolutionary Arab artists
maybe in concept and in aspiration, a spirit of tradition
hang on to them which they cannot, will not, shake off.
however much they may subscribe to the view of "internationalism"
or "cosmopolitanism" in modern art, they will not give
up the notion that their identity can only be shaped
by rooting themselves in a tradition of their own, which
helps to give a distinction to their work, marking them
of as the creators and extenders of a national culture.
Iraqi artist, most of whom have a very good knowledge
of other nation's art history, have right from the start
attempted to bring into existence a view of art which
might be called Iraqi, or Arab. Hens there harking back
to Sumerian and Assyrian sculpture, to Arab painting,
manuscript illumination and calligraphy, to folk motives
found in handy crafts and hand woven rugs and to local
popular teams. Their achievement in style is the child
of this wedding of tradition to present day contmporaneity.
It is only thus that we may begin to understand the
works of Jawad Salim, Shaker Hassan, Kathem Haidar,
Dhia Azzawi, Mohammed Ghani, Khaled Rahal, Suad Attar,
and may other leading artists. Whatever originbality
they may possess is thus connected, in one way or another,
with the grass rootes of their societ, eventhrough the
connection may not always be redily visable.
Similarily, most iraqi artists are deeply conserned
with the dilaemas of twentieth sentury man and their
own relevense to their times. They consider their work,
basically, as part of the stugle of an arab nation imerging
as a new force in todays world. Much of their symboloism
derives its inspiration from the fight for freedom and
indipendance of Palestinian revolutionaries. However
personal the vision or the ultimate style, these are
some of the major factors that make up their work.
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From
"The Grass Roots of Iraqi Art"
By Jabra Ibrahim Jabra,
(1919 - 1997)
Palestinian writer and art critic
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