Baghdad Abstracted. بغــداد،تجريدية
Artist's Statement:
This work depicts the abstracted skyline of an ever-standing city that I spent half of my life in and called it home for a decade, the word Baghdad/بغداد in Arabic has been created by using simple geometric shapes as a node to the modernist architecture of the Iraqi capital.
This work depicts the abstracted skyline of an ever-standing city that I spent half of my life in and called it home for a decade, the word Baghdad/بغداد in Arabic has been created by using simple geometric shapes as a node to the modernist architecture of the Iraqi capital.
From Le Corbusier's Olympic-sized Baghdad sports center to the Iconic Martyr Monument by Iraqi sculpture Ismael Fattah Al-Turk and Iraqi Architect Saman Kamal, all these shapes/forms are overlooking the Tigris river further solidifying the abstracted skyline concept.
The piece is read/observed from right to left in Arabic alphabet showing the journey the oldest city in history has been going through the past few decades in its modern-day reincarnation.
The colors mirror that of the Iraqi flag, the regality of the pan-Arab flag colors that represent the history of Iraq and the region, the colors slowly morphed to vibrant hues clashing while still in color harmony detecting the recent uproar of ethnic
/creed clashing forgetting the homogeneous social fabric of a city divided. That changes through the time as we continue to read the Artwork we notice the colors shift and that thin black stroke representing a monolithic entity reaching the sky in defiance of the city political unrest, this is shadowed in the white structure of Baghdad Tower of Communication in the heart of the Iraqi capital. As for the green space and the blueness of the letter Dal د, both are a representation of the aforementioned Martyrs Monument, the Blueness of the letter is a direct homage to this iconic monument that held dearly to Iraqis as it is the physical manifestation and a commemoration of the innocent lost souls of the recent history wars, the building is constructed of split turquoise dome in the style of the Abbasid era ones.
/creed clashing forgetting the homogeneous social fabric of a city divided. That changes through the time as we continue to read the Artwork we notice the colors shift and that thin black stroke representing a monolithic entity reaching the sky in defiance of the city political unrest, this is shadowed in the white structure of Baghdad Tower of Communication in the heart of the Iraqi capital. As for the green space and the blueness of the letter Dal د, both are a representation of the aforementioned Martyrs Monument, the Blueness of the letter is a direct homage to this iconic monument that held dearly to Iraqis as it is the physical manifestation and a commemoration of the innocent lost souls of the recent history wars, the building is constructed of split turquoise dome in the style of the Abbasid era ones.
In Arabic we have a saying; "God has entrusted me a moon in Baghdad" which had become a familiar unspoken hymn between the displaced & refugees when fleeing home, this is the reason behind choosing the crescent to be the main focal point for the letter غ.
Print Proofing
French Press Paper
Glossy Finish and different background treatment.
