Ahmed Abdalla
Poetics of Memory #11, 1996, mixed media on canvas, 96" x 71", Lent by the Artist; Courtesy of Elias Fine Art, Boston, MA
Growing up in urban Cairo, Egypt, and studying and living in the Netherlands and the United States gave me the unique opportunity to observe the meeting point between different cultures. The most fascinating common element I found was the importance of the human desire to communicate, and that this was more meaningful than the substance of what was to be communicated.
In my paintings, the prominent issues expressed are the paradox, the ambiguity, and the contradiction of communication. Through the many layers of my work, indecipherable manuscripts can be observed, and sometimes actually disappear in the diffused, light-filled surfaces. There is a disregard for the traditional role of narrative, characterized by language as the cultural imperative for communication. Instead, the paintings give alternatives for interpretation, which can take the form of ancient and sacred records and the spirit of intimate experiences.
My use of various pigments in these pieces is meant to add an air of mystery, but with a sense of ease that is not meant to be contrived. The ambiguity that exists in my paintings allows the viewer to elicit his or her personal experiences.
—Ahmed Abdalla
Ahmed Abdalla works within the tradition of abstract painting, yet the issues that concern him—those of identity, acculturation, and methods of communication—are those that affect many artists today. Abdalla's paintings and drawings look as though they may have been painted on parchment or as if they are large fragments of an ancient wall. Indeed, the artist has executed several wall paintings, and for this exhibition he has created one titled de Cordova.
In the Poetics of Memory series Abdalla has created his own vocabulary, building up many layers of gesso, pigments and dyes, using pale, light-infused colors and a calligraphic system of marks that obviously derive from his Egyptian heritage. The marks are suggestive of language, musical notations, mathematical computations, and pictograms, yet they are not specific. They hover on the edge of recognition, allowing the viewer to find multiple rich meanings in these mystical images that are simultaneously ancient and contemporary.
—Rachel Rosenfield Lafo
Director of Curatorial Affairs
Please join the artist for an informal gallery talk on Saturday, July 14 at 3pm.
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