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Albareh Art Gallery celebrated 15 years of cherished friendship with Sudanese artist Mohammed Omar Khalil (MOK) by featuring a series of his small paintings in a colourful showcase for all to enjoy.
The talented painter, collage artist and master printmaker, who is known for his large-scale works of art, is displaying an array of pieces which he created before the Covid-19 pandemic in the ‘Small and Beautiful’ exhibition, held under the patronage of National Arts Council chairman Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.
According to an Albareh spokesperson, ‘this exhibition brings into focus the multifaceted experience of MOK’s art’— such as his exuberant amalgams of paintings, prints, collage and photography, his longstanding preoccupation with his autobiographic concerns (Sawaken in this case), his inspiration by other forms of creation (stamps collecting, films, poetry and so on ) in Western art without being constrained by them and his astonishing ease to execute small works with the same methods and manners as his large works.
“Over his 60 years’ journey with art, MOK has patiently but firmly acted in that ‘space’ between art and life, bringing one into the other,” added the spokesperson.
“There are no poor subjects or materials for him. All subjects are a good pretext to paint and all medium are noble. Any piece of cloth from the artist’s own attire is no less suitable to make a painting than oil.”
Mohammed is an eternal and passionate traveller with footprints spanning four continents.
Yet, his main landmarks and the principal source of his imagination would still be his homeland, Sudan.
The other countries that also influenced him include Morocco (his Assilla home), Italy (his first Western home), New York City (his adoptive home and platform of dialogue with the international art) and Bahrain (the home at home where he has chosen to exhibit for the past 15 years).
Having his work described as ‘traveller’s diaries’ are some of the reasons why his work stands out because he ‘lives deeply in every moment of his travel’ which exudes in his work.
The exhibition at Albareh Art Gallery in Adliya, runs until December 8.
For details, follow @albarehartgallery on Instagram.
