BAHRAINI artist Salman Al Najem has been sharing his timely worship-inspired creations, featuring a series of colourful canvases, on an online art platform.
The Mihrab series is made up of spray-painted canvases and oil pastel works. The work has received critical acclaim and much interest from international collectors with pieces quickly snapped up.
“With a concept as large as worship, the mere mention of the word activates a spectrum of thoughts, questions and emotions,” said the 29-year-old who holds a Master of Arts in Fine Art from the Royal College of Art and a Bachelors of Arts in Interior and Spatial Design from University of the Arts London.
Curious
“Painting characters from different areas such as cartoons, history, other religions and contemporary life onto the Mihrab creates a curious merger that raises enough questions to start a mental discourse within the viewer.”
In his artwork he intentionally places ‘unconventional characters’ in the sacred setting of the Mihrab [prayer wall for the Imam, facing Mecca].
“The work is about the Mihrab, the Mihrab is in the mosque and Ramadan is when mosques are at their most full,” he added.
“With these works, I want to start a conversation about the concept of worship and what it means in our lives, and notice the times we do it consciously and unconsciously.
“The paintings also aim to call upon the viewer to experience awe, wonder and to contemplate the nature of our human experience in conjunction with the overwhelming, boundless and unconditional love that is God.”
The paintings are, for the most part, made out of spray mist and shape-shifting smoke with ‘Khaleeji satire’ at the heart of the series, along with the themes that it explores.
Mr Al Najem finds inspiration in what is happening around him socially, physically and spiritually, and uses industrial materials when painting to get the best form of expression.
“Unlike acrylic and oil paint, emulsion (house paint) is thick, opaque and, most importantly, inexpensive,” he explained.
“It is great for my work for the simple reason of not wanting to be precious with my materials and work as loose and as generously with my paints.
“I believe the thought of wanting to use the paint sparingly would hinder the feeling of freedom while working. Spray paint is also an important medium in my practice. It is also rough and tough and messy. Pencils and coloured pencils are mediums I love using for details. I was a drawer before I ever became a painter. I like to keep that alive within myself and my works.”
Expressive
His expressive works have been exhibited in the kingdom and around the world including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Italy and France.
The current series of canvases are being featured on Engage101 which is an art collecting and research platform founded by independent curator Munira Al Sayegh and art critic Gaith Abdulla.
According to Mr Al Najem, the aim is to continuously bridge the gap between the art world and the public.
“They are making the art world more accessible to more people,” he added.
“Through this exhibition, I would like to share the love there is in art making. My paintings are usually very large scale, however for this exhibition I made small scale paintings. This adds to the reasons why I wanted to work with Engage101.
“It’s much more feasible for people from our generation to collect smaller works, and I want my art to infiltrate the spaces of the people who resonate with the message.”
The virtual exhibition can be viewed on www.101.art and will run until Thursday.
mai.alkhatib@gulfweekly.com
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