Distinctive expressions
In a rare teaming up, two artists from the Arab world, Yousef Ahmed, a Qatari national, and Jamal Abdul Rahim, a Bahraini, present their works at the Majlis Gallery Dubai through Feb. 19. Rajeev Nair has the details
Photographs: Mohammed Rasheed
One man celebrates the spiritual dimension of calligraphy with the creative flourish of abstract art; the other salutes art from a thoroughly individualised perspective experimenting with print-making techniques and leather-art, to name but two…
Artists Yousef Ahmed from Qatar and Jamal Abdul Rahim from Bahrain however share one common ground: An Arab sensitivity to issues.
That perhaps is the one factor that complements their joint exhibition, untitled, currently on at the Majlis Gallery, Dubai. The artists say that by displaying their works together, instead of segregating them, they derive the power of creative expression from one another.
Ahmed and Rahim, while following two streams of artistic expression, have one more common ground: A passion for the Arabic language. The language is their inspiration, their muse, and they flaunt it.
And then there are the thoroughly individual streaks…. Ahmed was sort of groomed in art, inspired by his father, an employee with the Qatar Petroleum Company, who would bring home colours and brushes. The young boy was encouraged to play with them.
Rahim, on the other hand, was a latecomer into rendering art. He appreciated art alright, but it was one of those moments, when a conviction in his own abilities took the upper hand, that drove him to actually sit down and create art.
If Ahmed worked on calligraphy to start with, Rahim has been a man of many media. Ahmed eventually got to mix abstract notions in the foreground of what is essentially calligraphic art; Rahim continues his flirtations with diverse media, sometimes highlighting Andy Warhol-esque touches, other ways expounding the prevailing Miro influences but invariably, creating his own stamp of art that is thoroughly Arab in content, feel and idea.
Yousef Ahmed is not a stranger to Majlis Gallery. He has visited the place often; Rahim had exhibited at the Sharjah Biennial. Both believe that exhibiting ones works beyond one’s immediate confines are important. “Every artist has a message,” says Rahim. “We must try to participate in conveying this message from country to country, region to region.”
However, creating art for the sake of exhibitions does not curry favour with them. “That way, you cannot concentrate on your work. Art is a spiritual exercise — you can’t ignore it,” says Rahim.
The Arab flourish in his works are deliberate, says Ahmed. “In Qatar, we do not have the mountains like in the UAE or the green you see in Bahrain. We have flat deserts and bright blue skies. That is essentially what is reflected in my works, which have predominantly dusty colours.” Ahmed says while he has brought Arabic calligraphy to the foreground, local realities form his backdrop.
Rahim builds his art from the rich Arab civilisation, its mythology, religion and language. “But each artist has his individuality. I see from a view that is different from the others. And essentially, with each of our interpretation, we are building the history of the region through the principal subject — man.”
Both artists have exhibited extensively, and they agree that they can gauge the viewers’ reaction, only too well. “But you don’t anticipate or work towards that. Appreciation in fact should reach out to the art. A true art lover will travel to the end of the world, if need be, to seek out the art he wants,” says Rahim.
Artists pick their raw material, their inspiration from everywhere, he says, on the Warhol-esque touches and Miro influences in his works. “To be a poet you must read great poets; to be an artist, you study others. We, as humans, share one collective history, and it is a constant give and take of influences.” But he adds that his own style is thoroughly rooted in the Arab civilisation.
Rahim likes to reach his art out to as many interested takers there are. That is one reason for his affinity to print-making. Today, he has probably the largest print-making workshop in the Gulf, in Bahrain. “I regard myself as a student and a teacher of art at the same time. I am still searching art. I spent a lot of time in my workshop, exploring the lines and colours I can get.”
At Majlis Gallery, he has also brought in some leather-art, which is yet again, another medium for expressing himself. He says he is an artist for the sake of it. “You enjoy the moment at work. And once you are through with the moment, any moment at work, you smile — that is the satisfaction that art provides. There are no absolutes in art: Abstract or reality — both are right. Every thing depends on your taste.”
Ahmed says Arab artists have acquired true international stature over the years. “Their background is firm, their training is strong and they catch up with the techniques fast. Today, you can observe Arab artists taking an upper-hand at international exhibitions.”
Both say that artists are at the forefront of any socio-political change in the making. “Every where you go, artists are in the front-line. We carry the message forward,” says Rahim. “That means, we must also know what goes around us. We have to use our eyes and ears to see and hear the world. If politics is the craft of lying, art is an expression of reality. There are no borders for artists or art.”
