Ammar Hammoud

Zoo Escape

2023

" Flooded Cafe " 195 x 400 x 2 Indian Ink on Canvas 2023 Unique by Ammar Hammoud Syrian Contemporary Artist

" Zoo Escape " 270 x 195 x 2 Indian Ink on Canvas 2023 Unique by Ammar Hammoud Syrian Contemporary Artist

Since the 1940s, the Egyptian painter Hamed Abdalla is not only a visionary pioneer of modern art for the global south and Arab countries; he is also one of the first of his generation to envision painting as political art and activism. The current display focuses on a specific time of defeat and disillusion for a whole generation of Arab artists and intellectuals, in the aftermath of the “Six Days War” led by Israel and their allies (a war title which a lot of Arab activists consider propagandist, preferring to call it “The Defeat of 1967” or simply the “June 1967 War”). This persistent ideological wound became the symbol of failed dreams for the “Arab Nation” or Arab states alliances – including the short but emblematic Egyptian-Syrian achievement of the United Arab Republic. Another major failure, to which Abdalla will respond through the paintings on display here, is the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat program of “opening up” (Infitah) the Egyptian economy and give way to political compromise with the US and Israel – Abdalla assimilating this period to a vast state of Coma for all Arab people and territories. In a collective statement by a group of Egyptian artists exiled in Paris (including Abdalla), published in the Egyptian local journal Al-Dustur, on 5 December 1977, one can read: “This disaster is far greater than the defeat of June 1967. Rather, it approaches the scale of the disaster that took place in 1948 (…) To destroy the Arab people’s noble three decades-long struggle against imperialism and Zionism (…) Sadat is exploiting the stifling economic crisis that Egypt is currently facing (…) We must resist this betrayal of our nation or be crushed under the wheels of global imperialism for generations to come.” The works presented here reflect Abdalla’s transformation of the Hurrufiyyah aesthetics, to achieve his own way of “Arab Letterism”. It claims for a deeply experimental, non-decorative, politically committed and non-commercial use of the Arabic letter...

French painter, sculptor, engraver, James Coignard was born in Tours in 1925. He lived and worked in Antibes, in the Maritime Alps, and he died in March 2008. Coignard began his studies in 1948 at the School of Fine Arts in Nice; however, his journey as an artist began in the Côte d'Azur, where he settled. In fact, Coignard traveled a lot, living for a period from 1985 to 1988 in New Orleans. His artistic career was marked by collective and personal exhibitions both in France and abroad (Sweden, Switzerland, the United States...), where he enjoyed fame and recognition. Until the 1960s, his artistic development was characterized by an expressionistic style; then Coignard found himself moving towards an abstract one with random spots, regular shapes, typographical characters, and mixed media backgrounds. He was a painter but also a sculptor, who experimented with bronze and with glass. His work as an engraver was also quite well-known. James Coignard created his first glass sculpture in the 1970s at the Fucina degli Angeli. Only later, after meeting Adriano Berengo...

Bold yet delicately portrayed, "So Plant, So Animal I" is an abstract piece framed to perfection, offering a timeless neutral color palette. The central theme captures the essence of...

"Final Offering" delves into intricate details of a poignant scene. The viewer's gaze is drawn to a statuesque figure, with a hand gracefully outstretched, engaging in the tender act of placing a crown of flowers onto what appears to be a sepulcher or marble tomb. The careful attention to the folds, texture, and draping in the subject's clothing stand out in this piece. The color palette chosen - formed with India ink on dyed canvas...

Bold yet delicately portrayed, "So Plant, So Animal II" is an abstract piece framed to perfection, offering a timeless neutral color palette. The central theme captures the essence o...

AUSPICE 2020 Paris, France An auspice is a ‘prophetic sign’ which the artist was inspired by. This textured, abstract piece features a lying skull, looking up to the sky...