Lot Essay
'An Endangered Species is the first in a substantial body of paintings divided into three well-known series - Women and the Veil, Hands of Fatima and Women and Magic - characteristic of Laila Shawas mid-career signature style. It exemplifies Shawas creative preoccupation since the 1960s: reduction of form to fields of colour and the communication of a socio-political message.
The impetus for An Endangered Species was furnished by the re-emergence of the veil in Gaza during the First Intifada, a phenomenon which Shawa has consistently utilized for the exploration of themes round the concepts of individual responsibility as the basis for a stable society. Formally, the composition has been reduced to a decorative play of vibrant colours and pattern contrasted by the stylised, black shapes of the womens eyes. Despite the riot of uniquely designed veils, mask-like and empty, the figures are inherently devoid of individuality.' (Christa Paula, art historian, 2009)
Another work from this series entitled The Impossible Dream is a highlight of the collection of the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, published in Widjan Ali, Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, 2005, p.150.
The impetus for An Endangered Species was furnished by the re-emergence of the veil in Gaza during the First Intifada, a phenomenon which Shawa has consistently utilized for the exploration of themes round the concepts of individual responsibility as the basis for a stable society. Formally, the composition has been reduced to a decorative play of vibrant colours and pattern contrasted by the stylised, black shapes of the womens eyes. Despite the riot of uniquely designed veils, mask-like and empty, the figures are inherently devoid of individuality.' (Christa Paula, art historian, 2009)
Another work from this series entitled The Impossible Dream is a highlight of the collection of the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, published in Widjan Ali, Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, 2005, p.150.
