Tony Khawam
Cleopatra Seduction
2022

About the Item

Cleopatra is a central figure in this painting inspired by Elizabeth Taylor’s role in the Hollywood’s blockbuster 1963 film as a role model for Women to reach their potential. Her great personality and love for her nation propelled her to seduce two powerful figures in the Roman Empire, Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony. She became a role model to empower future generations of women. The combination of modern motifs including cartoons of Tom and Jerry, fashion items that suggest the American arts and culture influence on the world with an artist inspired Florida vibrant colors theme where he works and lives. The new work features historical and modern figures, social commentary, fashion motifs, everyday objects, pop culture ads, cartoons, film, and Florida flora and fauna that inhabit flat, kaleidoscopic surfaces. The artist’ dialogue with the traditions of the past interwoven with his participation in current global artistic discussions is apparent in this series. (A certificate of authenticity is included with the painting) Khawam’s work stems from his interest in histories, human emotion, allusions to place, memory, and the ubiquitous fleeting moments of the conscious and unconscious. The recent work has iconic undertones with a focus on the artist’s fascination with historical imagery and abstract shapes with influences of post-war American art adopted into his daily artistic and structural practices with the current surroundings and happenings by marrying a skewed perspective with dimensional flatness, his paintings allude to the continuous development of the American culture. The past and present of “Living the Dream” make the case for the way art and its language of color, line, and shape enrich a viewer’s experience of the work and offer a delicate balance between representation and abstraction, mirroring the real and unreal ways in which he paints lived experience. Moreover, his myriad mediums including acrylic, colored pastel, and spray paint further referencing painterly collage in a more experimental and risk-taking approach. The new work features figurative and abstract elements, from social commentary, fashion motifs, everyday objects, pop culture ads, cartoons, film, and Florida flora and fauna that inhabit flat, kaleidoscopic surfaces with the artist’ dialogue in the traditions of the past interwoven with his participation in current global artistic discussions. This simultaneous engagement with the past, present, and future speaks to a singular creative presence.

Creator:

Tony Khawam (1959, American)

Creation Year:

2022

Dimensions:

Height: 40 in (101.6 cm)Width: 52 in (132.08 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)

Medium:

Spray Paint,Acrylic

Movement & Style:

Pop Art

Period:

2010-