.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This vibrant 1989 mixed media on canvas is typical of works created by Moustafa Fathi in the late 1980s, continuing well into the next two decades of the artist's oeuvre. Born in Darra, Syria, educated in Fine Arts in Syria and at the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris, Fathi worked in his native country during the heyday of Modernism. However, instead of moving towards a vision of progress that embraced mechanisation, Fathi carved out a unique artistic path for himself. This path served an elemental vision inspired by nature, which ultimately brought the artist back to his roots in Darra, Syria.
The present work depicts clusters of shapes formed out of fluid, sensual lines set against a vibrant mahogany background. The shapes range from circular to rectangular forms, others are joined clusters resulting in amorphous and organic looking assemblages. The clusters rest upon a red-brown background that mimic mounds of red earth found near the artist's then countryside studio in Darra. The work was created soon after Fathi conducted field research on Syrian traditional Folk Arts in 1987-88. The shapes are created using woodblock printing technique for which Fathi carved his own woodblocks. The grey, orange, black and white markings within each of the clusters in the piece are primal, and come together to form a pictorial language. Sometimes reminiscent of cave paintings, or that of a child's scrawl, this pictorial language forces us towards a consideration of rocks, branches, vegetal patterns and other constellations found in nature. Fathi's goal was to capture rocks, shapes, hills and the colour of the soil of his beloved countryside, 'I have to keep working until I come close to their simplicity and perfection' (M. Bohbot, Moustafa Fathi, Dubai 2008, unpaged). Made using simple materials such as wood, paint and cloth this work does not only point to simplicity but Fathi's mark making points to mystery and to the universality of human experience.
Inspired by Abstract Expressionists Jackson Pollock and Paul Klee, Fathi comes across as being more controlled than his Western influences. The present work clearly makes use of indigenous themes and processes which were available to the Syrian artist.
The present work depicts clusters of shapes formed out of fluid, sensual lines set against a vibrant mahogany background. The shapes range from circular to rectangular forms, others are joined clusters resulting in amorphous and organic looking assemblages. The clusters rest upon a red-brown background that mimic mounds of red earth found near the artist's then countryside studio in Darra. The work was created soon after Fathi conducted field research on Syrian traditional Folk Arts in 1987-88. The shapes are created using woodblock printing technique for which Fathi carved his own woodblocks. The grey, orange, black and white markings within each of the clusters in the piece are primal, and come together to form a pictorial language. Sometimes reminiscent of cave paintings, or that of a child's scrawl, this pictorial language forces us towards a consideration of rocks, branches, vegetal patterns and other constellations found in nature. Fathi's goal was to capture rocks, shapes, hills and the colour of the soil of his beloved countryside, 'I have to keep working until I come close to their simplicity and perfection' (M. Bohbot, Moustafa Fathi, Dubai 2008, unpaged). Made using simple materials such as wood, paint and cloth this work does not only point to simplicity but Fathi's mark making points to mystery and to the universality of human experience.
Inspired by Abstract Expressionists Jackson Pollock and Paul Klee, Fathi comes across as being more controlled than his Western influences. The present work clearly makes use of indigenous themes and processes which were available to the Syrian artist.