MODERN ART IN IRAQ

MODERN ART IN IRAQ: LEADING FIGURES AND INTERNATIONAL PERSONALITIES

Lamia Jamal Al-Talabany

Photos: Lamia Jamal Al-Talabany with her artworks.

Lamia Jamal Al-Talabany, an Iraqi Kurd, graduated from Baghdad University, followed by a MSc degree in Human Nutrition from London University. Married to Dr.Hikmet Kazimi and they share four very special children. At present she lives in Jordan. Basically a self taught artist, she has taken courses at universities and institutions with experienced and accomplished artists. Her work has evolved through the years, taking her from oil painting to ceramics and finally to sculpture. Her work is human derived and has led her from representational to impressionistic to abstract expressionism. She works directly from sketches or solely from the mind. The sculptures can take her from a few weeks to months to complete depending on the subject and circumstances. Mail Contact: lamia@lamiajamal.com

The Art of Lamia Jamal Al-Talabany: Elegance, class and refined style define the art of Jamal Al-Talabany. Exquisite figures nourished with fibers of lights, elegantly born and intelligently cultivated. The melodious rhythm of the curves and contours of her compositions free her subjects from the rationale of time and perplex esthetics. Her figures float, flow, dance and flirt with grace and unsurpassed beauty in mesmerizing motion. Her work is ageless and timeless, for each extension of her composition is an extended stay on the landscape of infinite artistic creativity of thoughts, feelings and delightful unity between the romantic intimacy of inner feelings and the elegance of an intelligent beauty. Although, her art might appear to you eyes as an authentic reflection of the best of the best of the neo-deco or art-nouveau genre, this very art of Al-Talabany remains essentially a “Talabany’s Style” for it frees and captures the feminine beauty through unpredicted figuration of esthetics and composition. Her art is multi-dimensional, yet, it remains romantically human in its simplicity, elegant serenity and lyrical eloquence. Jamal Al-Talabany is an artist who has demonstrated unsurpassed esthetical beauty in motion, in thoughts, in forms and elegant nostalgia.

Batool Al-Fekaiki

Born in Iraq in 1952 and living in London, Batool Al-Fekaiki received her BA from the Institute of Art in Baghdad. Her art is presented in oil on canvas and drawing. She uses art to express her inner thoughts and to symbolize her views of the world around her. Driven from home due to the Gulf War, her work defies the cold realities of misery and suffering that is synonymous with the plight of today's Babylonia. Instead, there is hope, there is faith and there are dreams; such is the human spirit that is beautifully captured on canvas in Al-Fekaiki's many inspirational paintings. Her work is no stranger to the art scene in the Middle East nor in Europe. Al-Fekaiki's works have appeared many times in various national and international exhibitions. Her solo exhibitions have featured at the Dr Christian Hyden Hall, Munich (1998), and at the Beledna Gallery, Amman, Jordan (1997). Her art has been part of numerous group exhibitions including the International Exhibition of Fine Art in Al-Mahras, Tunisia (1997 & 1998) as well as the Palestinian Child Exhibition, Dubai, UAE (1996). "For me a painting is a key to unlock the internal world or the private sphere which would be impenetrable otherwise".