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An open space for international artists showcasing their taste in art, Jeddah’s R Gallery has exhibits that cater to every art lover under the same roof: Best described as “The Collection.”
The Collection exhibition displays 57 artworks of 13 artists from the Middle East, Europe and the US.
“With all what they (the artworks) hold from sadness, disappointment, reality of the region and the world, to optimism, they are beautiful,” Mona Haraghi, co-founder and curator of R Gallery, told Arab News.
As you enter R Gallery with its stone façade and arched windows, you will have a glimpse of different schools of art from Morocco, the US, Bahrain, ��������Ƶ, Syria, Iraq, the UK and many others.
With nine art work, Saudi artist Saddeik Wassil represents the working class using basic elements. He combines iron, paint tubes, cement and stones. He is a contemporary artist who appreciates handwork and is an advocate for the working class, Haraghi said.
Two of his wall-mount artworks Mask 1 and Mask 2 stand out with their expressionless features. Mask 2 is made up of empty paint tin cans.
“We live at a time when people wear masks,” Haraghi said. “Wassil’s work speaks of the reality we live. He is a reality artist who reflects the age he lives in. He is literally a contemporary artist,” she said, adding that a contemporary artist should bring forward new subjects and techniques that suit the present time.”
The gallery displayed black and white photography and colorful brush strokes in the paintings of Jordanian artist Hilda Hiary. Her paintings are charged with social issues demonstrating the refugees’ struggle in the Arab world, the lack of understanding, and acceptance of different beliefs and ethnicities.
Hiary’s Paper Plane painting depicts the struggle of refugees in Arab countries. It depicts people’s dream of leaving their countries but cannot because they don’t have a visa. “Most Arab countries are not granting visas, not only to Syrians, but to anyone coming from a country with conflict,” the artist told Arab News.
She mainly paints women in her portraits and a big portion of her work focuses on refugees and their struggle. One of her paintings shows a woman and a horse within the same frame. This represents the equality of creatures and the lack of tolerance toward differences in reality.
“My work is socio-political art. People are not accepting each other’s religions so how can they accept different species. Lately we’ve been addressing religion, which was not the case before,” Hiary said, adding that people ask: “Why don’t we respect people and their thoughts as humans regardless of their beliefs?” Bahraini Ghada Khunji got personal in her artwork. She showed a picture of her and her mother. I try to look at it as my own “dark ages.”
“Am I getting out of the dark ages or into the dark ages?” she asks herself while reflecting on her own life.
It is the first time for her to participate in an art exhibition in Jeddah. “It’s about time we did that,” she said on having an international art exhibition.
One of her artworks portrays a real photo of her and her mother sitting side by side with a necklace dangling from the artist’s neck all the way to her mother’s hand, depicting the intimate connection between them.
Khunji’s work is showcased along side American artist and photographer Lilian Bassman, who she said was her mentor during the time when she was receiving her art education in New York. “(Showcasing) my work next to hers means the world to me,” Khunji said.
The three art pieces displayed for Bassman, who died in 2012, convey her interest in fashion photography and the strong contrast that her black and white photography. The pieces demonstrate glamorous shots of French women dressed in chic couture.
Twenty-year-old Dammam-based Hatem Al-Ahmad participated with a painting entitled “The Flower Seller.” The curator described the young artist as “the new Picasso.” Haraghi added: “This painting with all what it bears is simple yet deep at the same time. If this young man received the need support from people who believe in his talent, he can become the Picasso of the Middle East. His approach is somewhat similar to that of Picasso.”
The Collection exhibition at R Gallery is open through June 15.
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