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Lot Essay
‘… There is a difference between dreams, visions, and the visual work, which places me directly in front of the countless possibilities of images in our memory that we try to suppress as they remain hidden in our subconscious or inner world. All my attempts have been with the aim of remembering some of these images’.
(The artist in conversation with M. Farhat, in Jadaliyya; The origins of Dreams: an Interview with Safwan Dahoul, 13 March 2016, accessed online.)
Syrian artist Safwan Dahoul is renowned for representing intimate moments of humanity. His paintings have always been a self-reflection at large and his autobiographical expression and the poignant scenes or emotional states he paints with his recurrent female protagonist reveal personal events and emotions that reflect in his repeated use of the title Rêve (Dream). His works highlight his ever-expanding reflection of his own personal dream, as he quotes ‘To be alive, one must dream. My dreams have not ended yet’ (ibid.).
His art is therefore first and foremost a contemplation into a human psychosocial state and estrangement rapidly evolving in contemporary society. Since the early 2000s, his works took on a different style where large-scale female figures present a more or less angular profile expressing the ideas of these emotional states. Within these works, Dahoul adopts a colour scheme that is prevalently black, white and grey, and showing a decided departure from what can be considered his blue period. The theme of his paintings and their significance has thus been adeptly mirrored in his choice of restricted colour palette.
Along with these muted and subdued colours, his works are devoid from details of placement often suspended in a sea of greys, deep ochre or blacks that direct the viewer’s attention to an imposing female figure that fills the confines of the canvas and that, is beautifully shown in the present lot.
Dahoul explores through his paintings the notion of escape to a better world. The female figure in this painting is swimming in the unreal atmosphere of love, as she is sensitive to the motion of what appears to be the empty space around her. To her, this emptiness is full of her lover’s presence. Dahoul emphasises the purity of the outline and form, bathing his characters in a two-tone colour palette.
In what looks like a mirror image, the complete figure on the left bows her head to the back yet a motherly tenderness radiates in her arm covering her chest and her curled fingers. She is dressed in black. Her body fills the frame and seems to float in the black sea. This choice of cold surroundings underlines the feeling of solitude of this female figure in a fetal position. A small angel wing is seen on her back, providing a small hint of positivity and hope.
The style of the work suggests Dahoul’s exposure to Cubism whilst simultaneously reminiscent of Byzantine iconography. It is no doubt that the influences of Assyrian and Flemish art remain deep rooted within his works.
Although a sense of sorrow and death resonates in his fantasy dream-like world, this underlying oppressive state is countered with a sign of hope that the artist subtly inserts.
Celebrated as a prominent member of the Syrian art scene internationally with his unequalled Dream series of the past three decades, Dahoul has marvelously been an icon for bridging modern and contemporary Arab art with his timeless aesthetic and the consistency of his technique.
(The artist in conversation with M. Farhat, in Jadaliyya; The origins of Dreams: an Interview with Safwan Dahoul, 13 March 2016, accessed online.)
Syrian artist Safwan Dahoul is renowned for representing intimate moments of humanity. His paintings have always been a self-reflection at large and his autobiographical expression and the poignant scenes or emotional states he paints with his recurrent female protagonist reveal personal events and emotions that reflect in his repeated use of the title Rêve (Dream). His works highlight his ever-expanding reflection of his own personal dream, as he quotes ‘To be alive, one must dream. My dreams have not ended yet’ (ibid.).
His art is therefore first and foremost a contemplation into a human psychosocial state and estrangement rapidly evolving in contemporary society. Since the early 2000s, his works took on a different style where large-scale female figures present a more or less angular profile expressing the ideas of these emotional states. Within these works, Dahoul adopts a colour scheme that is prevalently black, white and grey, and showing a decided departure from what can be considered his blue period. The theme of his paintings and their significance has thus been adeptly mirrored in his choice of restricted colour palette.
Along with these muted and subdued colours, his works are devoid from details of placement often suspended in a sea of greys, deep ochre or blacks that direct the viewer’s attention to an imposing female figure that fills the confines of the canvas and that, is beautifully shown in the present lot.
Dahoul explores through his paintings the notion of escape to a better world. The female figure in this painting is swimming in the unreal atmosphere of love, as she is sensitive to the motion of what appears to be the empty space around her. To her, this emptiness is full of her lover’s presence. Dahoul emphasises the purity of the outline and form, bathing his characters in a two-tone colour palette.
In what looks like a mirror image, the complete figure on the left bows her head to the back yet a motherly tenderness radiates in her arm covering her chest and her curled fingers. She is dressed in black. Her body fills the frame and seems to float in the black sea. This choice of cold surroundings underlines the feeling of solitude of this female figure in a fetal position. A small angel wing is seen on her back, providing a small hint of positivity and hope.
The style of the work suggests Dahoul’s exposure to Cubism whilst simultaneously reminiscent of Byzantine iconography. It is no doubt that the influences of Assyrian and Flemish art remain deep rooted within his works.
Although a sense of sorrow and death resonates in his fantasy dream-like world, this underlying oppressive state is countered with a sign of hope that the artist subtly inserts.
Celebrated as a prominent member of the Syrian art scene internationally with his unequalled Dream series of the past three decades, Dahoul has marvelously been an icon for bridging modern and contemporary Arab art with his timeless aesthetic and the consistency of his technique.