Untitled

The artist’s well-documented fascination with Sufi thought and penchant for exploring ways in which pictorial surfaces could be transcended or modified are both to the fore in this signed and dated artwork, which features motifs inspired by Arabic letters and calligraphy that encircle the main subject of the piece. Seemingly suspended, the focal point of the work has a figurative, yet mythical feel about it, arms or wings outstretched, the appearance of floating reinforced by a thin grey line above the subject. Yet the calmness of this captured moment in time is brusquely and cruelly disrupted, severed by a blood-red line that cuts, knife-like, vertically through the piece.
An Iraqi painter, sculptor, writer and historian, Al Said is considered one of his birthplace’s most innovative and influential artists, playing a key part in its modern art movement. He is also known for developing the art philosophy ‘One Dimension’. Spiritual reflection, along with structuralism and deconstruction, is often mentioned in reference to his works. Widely exhibited, Al Said studied at Baghdad’s Institute of Fine Arts, later also teaching at the facility.