拍品專文
This present work was exhibited in Valentine Fine Art in August 1997 in a series of works whereby the artist explores the human figure and the relationship between man and his identity in society. No critic would sum it up better than the artist himself "The smoke that covers the faces of the figures are 'masks'. I wanted an urban mask that has no reference to culture or tradition, as in Balinese or primitive masks. Or sometimes instead of smoke, I might hide the faces in shadow or whatever I might be thinking of when I am painting it. A face obscured by a formless entity or hidden in deep shadow suggests to me a mysterious or spiritual anonymity. It is a reflection of man's spiritual identity in relation to an urban environment. That is the theme of the work."
The potency of Ahmad's works lies in his interpretation of space and perspective. The vast, dark and ambiguous terrains permits the 'loudness' of the lonesome figures as they explore their identity. The artistic vocabulary is reduced to the minimum as the artist pays tribute to the dark and powerful American artist Mark Rothko (1903-1970). In the same fashion as Rothko, Ahmad attains a level of intellectual sophistication through the 'commonest', as exemplified by the Two Figures.
The inscription on the work which reads: With Two Forms and with Two Figures but with one soul, Thou and I, is a line from the poem Thou and I by the 13th century Persian poet Rumi. The line addresses distinctly the relationship between God and the poet himself which suggests a profound spiritual affiliation between the mortal and the immortal.
The potency of Ahmad's works lies in his interpretation of space and perspective. The vast, dark and ambiguous terrains permits the 'loudness' of the lonesome figures as they explore their identity. The artistic vocabulary is reduced to the minimum as the artist pays tribute to the dark and powerful American artist Mark Rothko (1903-1970). In the same fashion as Rothko, Ahmad attains a level of intellectual sophistication through the 'commonest', as exemplified by the Two Figures.
The inscription on the work which reads: With Two Forms and with Two Figures but with one soul, Thou and I, is a line from the poem Thou and I by the 13th century Persian poet Rumi. The line addresses distinctly the relationship between God and the poet himself which suggests a profound spiritual affiliation between the mortal and the immortal.