Bronze, 2019

ةرــخص

جرختــسيو ،نادور تــحنلا

رمتــسملا هــعارصو ناــسنلإا ةــلحر داــطصي يذــلا كــلذ

يدوعسلاو ،يسيبكلا مصتعم يقارعلا ،نيشهدملا نيتاحنلا نيذه عم

ةــلتاخم يــف اــمهنيب مــغانتلا اذــه دــجن ،زــنورب ضرــعم يــف ،يــفقثلا دــمحملااــمعأ ،زــنوربلا :ةدــلاخلا ةداــملا هذــه نــم اــقلخي ىــتح ،هــعيوطتو ،نــيطلا ،ةعئار ةينف عــطق يــف نــيتقيمعلا اــمهيتيؤر ناــعضي اــمهو ،ةــتفلاو ةزــيمم ةرارــم نــم ةــيتحنلا هــتاريبعت يــسيبكلا هــيف عــنصي يذــلا تــقولا يــفف ريــسي يــفقثلا نإــف ،ملاــسلاو برــحلا لــيتارت يــف ،يــقارعلا يــبرعلا عــقاولا ،هــتاتوحنم تاــعوضوم فــئاطلا ةــئيب نــم ايحوتــسم ،ةــعيبطلاب اــمهلم هتانيوكت ماخرلاو رجحلا لتك نم جرختسي يك ،اهيف لابجلا امهلتسمو تاــتوحنمب يــقلتملا ئــجافيو ،زــنوربلا ىــلإ زاــحني اــنه هــنكل ،ةــتفلالا .نــهيعوو نــهتفاقثب تاخماــش ءاــسنل ازــمرو ءاــحيإ لــمحت ةــيريبعت يــف ناــفلتخمو ناــقفتم ،ةأرــملا رــيوصت يــف نادــيرف ناــجذومن ماــمأ نــحن

تــسيلو ،ءاــطعو عــلطتو حور ةأرــملا نأ يــف ناــقفتم ،هــتاذ تــقولا ادرــسو ارعــش نوــعدبملا لزــغتي نــيح ،لاــثملا ليبــس ىــلعف ،دــسج مــهفلاخي ،اهتقاــشرو

WOMEN IN THE EYE OF TWO DISTINGUISHED SCULPTORS

Is the sculpture ready?

Shall we have only to clear the dust off it?

We may agree with Rodin, or we may contradict him: a sculpt ed work is only ready in the eye of a great sculptor, and in his mind’s eye. He is the one who measures stone with his bare eye, and even with his heart; the one who identifies himself with clay, and blends into it, until we cannot distinguish be tween clay and his adoring hands; the one who doesn’t stop, day and night, being obsessed with the world surrounding him, with the human being, be it a man or a woman, with warriors and knights, with a soldier on his way to the battlefield, or even with a limb-amputated horse. A real sculptor is the one who captures the arduous journey of man and his unending strug gle with life.

Here we would talk about two talented sculptors: the Iraqi, Muatasim Al Kubaisy ; and the Saudi, Mohammed Al-Thaqa fi. We find great harmony between these two sculptors in terms of their ability to trick and tame clay, in order to create such outstanding and eye-catching artifacts out of an eternal material, that is ‘bronze’. They both infuse their deep insights into those magnificent masterpieces of art. While Al Kubaisy tends to draw the expressions carved in his work out of the bitterness of the Iraqi and Arab realities, and of the hymns of war and peace; Al-Thaqafi, on the other hand, is inspired by nature, derives the themes of his carvings from his surround ings in his hometown, Ta’if, draws inspiration from its moun tains, and extracts his striking formations from familiar local blocks of stone and marble. However, he favors bronze here, and surprises his audience with expressive carvings that are suggestive and symbolic of lofty women boasting a high-level of refinement and awareness.

Two unique ways of depicting women in art, both in harmo ny and at odds at the same time. They are harmonious in their view of a woman as being a creature that is full of spirit, aspi ration and benevolence, and not a mere voluptuous body. For instance, while creators of verse and prose, or even sculptures

and carvings, tend to embody the charm and agility in women, Al Kubaisy and Al-Thaqafi are in conflict with this traditional view, as they tend to capture all aspects that usually go unno ticed in women. Al-Thaqafi, in his carvings, depicts a woman’s body split in two, with alphabetical letters inscribed in the mid dle part of it. When combined, these letters compose words and phrases that represent the deep insight, refinement and awareness of women. He engraves Arabic letters and Islam ic motifs into the slender figures of women he carves, which incites us to take note of and be impressed with these carved figures. This means that he bets on that which is different, and doesn’t go with that which is prevailing (e.g. simply by under scoring the nakedness of the carved figure of a woman). On the part of Al Kubaisy , he even goes further than that. Through his work, he expresses the view that a plump body has its own beauty as well. Just take a look at the plump figures of wom en in his carvings, and you’ll immediately notice their graceful movements; as they are standing on a weighing scale, as they are sitting leg-crossed, or as they are standing in an upright position that shows their self-confidence and self-importance.

These outstanding and impressive masterpieces only present a part of the vast world illustrated by these two sculptors; one of them has come from Mesopotamia (i.e. Iraq), and the other one from the land of the tribe of Thaqif (i.e. Ta’if, Saudi Arabia), in order to put their own worlds on display before our eyes here in Riyadh, expressing themselves in the eternal language of ‘Bronze’.

Yousef Al Mohaimeed

وــحن اــهتهجوب ةكــسمتم لاــمعلأا هذــهف نــفلا توــم نــلعيل يــقلتملا

ةــئيبل يــحلا لــثامتلا اــنمزلت اــهنأب لوــيخلا تاــتوحنمل عــباتملا ناــهذلأ دــيعأو دــكؤأ اذــهل يــبرعلا

قــحلي يرــيبعت دــعب نــم رــثكأ اــهل لــيخلاف اــهماوق ضارعتــسلا ةدــكؤمو اهلكــش يــف ةطاــسبلا ةــلماح . ةــماركلاو ةــلوجرلا ةروــص هــنم تارورــضلا ءاــقتناو اــنخيرات هاــجتا اروــصت

هــتقاط لــمحي يــلامجو يــفطاع زاكــترا يــهف ةــنادبلا ثــيح نــم ةــبيرغلا لاكــشلأاو ةيئاــسنلا ماــسجلأا هذــه اــمأ اــيئاهن حــبقلا روــصت لا ةــنادبلاو ادــبأ لاــمجلا يــنعت لا ةقاــشرلا نأ اــهدافم ةــصاخ رــظن ةــهجو نــمض ةــيريبعتلا ةــنراقملا ةرــكف.. نــهذلا يــف ةــقلاعلا ةرــكفلا وــحمل ريــشتو ةدــماجلا ةــقئاذلا ميــشهت ىــلع لــمعت ةــليخم كاــنه رــيبعتلا نــمريغتملل ىعــسأ اذــهل هــلمأت ةــلاح يــف لاــمجلاب ساــسحلإا فــعاضي اــملاط نراــقي لا ةأرــملا دــسج.. ةحــسم يــف لاــمجلا ةروــص رقتــست اــمنيب هــئاضعأ عــم ةــهجاوملا ةــبغرب مــظاعتت دــسجلا ةــنضاحف يــنفلا لا نــفلا توــمب رــشبت يــقلتملا يزــيزع كــلعجي اــم اذــه دــعب لــه. حورــلا نــم بارــتقلااو يناــسنلإا لــماعتلا هراك ( ارــيدنوك نلاــيمل ىرــخأ ةــلوقم ةيــساسح دــنع فــقوتي لا ضرــعملا اذــه عــباتي نــم ةــليخم نأ بــسحا .)ملاــسب اــيحي لا نــفلا

مصتعم

ةــبلح دودــح نــمض ةــيعادبلاا ةكراــشملاللاــخ نــم , ةــقلاخلا راكــفلأل يــجهنملا سيــسأتلا وــحن عــلطتلا و كاردلإاو مــهفلاب ةغوــسم ةيناــسنإ ةلاــسر لاإ وــهام نــفلا كاذو اذــه لك نــم مــهلااو , ةعراــستملا تارــيغتملا و تاــعارصلاب مــعفملا يوــيحلا دوــجولا و مــلاعلل ةيفــسلف ةــيؤر .لــيمج مــلاع ىــلإ يدؤــملا هرــهوجو نــفلا ةــياغل لاوــصو يــنفلا ءادلأا يــف ةــيرحلا مــيهافمب كــسمتلا يــف ىــقبي نــينانفلل ةزــئاج لوأ ىــلع لــصحو ،نــييقارعلا نييليكــشتلا نــينانفلا ةــباقن يــف ةــيوضع يــسيبكلا مــصتعم ناــنفلل ناك ورــخا ضرــعم ماــقأ مــث ، 2004 ماــع يــف M-Gallery ســيراب يــف لولأا يدرــفلا هــضرعم ناكو .2005 ماــع دادــغب يــف بابــشلا 2009 ماــع يــف ةــيفاقثلا يــبظ وــبأ ةــسسؤم يــف رــخا ضرــعم هلاــتو .2008 ماــع يــف يــبد يــف XVA ضرــعم يــف ومــسلا بــحاص ىرــكذل اراكذــت بــهذلاب ةــيلطم ةــيفزخ ةــيرادج ةــحول ةيــسيئرلا هــتازاجنإ نــيب نــمودــيدعلاو ،نــيويقلا مأ يــف نــصحلا راود عــقي .نــيعلا فــحتم يــف ناــيهن لآ ناطلــس نــب دــياز خيــشلاةــفاضلإاب ،ةــيبرعلا لوــيخلل ليوداــش ةــعرزمل ةــفلتخملا ماــجحلأا تاذ لوــيخلل تاــتوحنملا نــم.يــبد ةراــمإ ءاــحنأ عــيمج يــف ةــصاخلا عرازــملا يــف

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Currently working as a professor of Pottery and Sculpture at Sharjah Collections of Art and an “Artist Advisor” for upcoming and existing artists, Al Kubaisy was born in Iraq, where he graduated in 1991 from the Fine Art Academy of the University of Baghdad. His equestrian works have appeared in private collections across the UAE and have been exhibited widely in Baghdad, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Paris.

As a member of the Iraqi Fine Artists Association, he gained the first Young Artists Award in Baghdad in 2005. His first solo exhibition was in Paris M-Gallery in 2004, with the second following at Dubai’s XVA-Gallery in 2008. His third solo exhibition was held at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation in 2009. Among his key achievements are the gold-plated ceramic mural memorializing the late H.H. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in Al Ain Museum; Al Hosn Roundabout in Umm Al-Quwain, and many horse statutes of different sizes for Shadwell Arabian Horses Farm, as well as the many horse statutes of his creation housed in private farms across the Emirate of Dubai.

The artist manipulates forms, materials and textures, revealing subtle emotional states and deep er levels of psyche. He has been taking part in group exhibitions since 1988 where he was part of the Ministry of Culture and Information Annual Exhibition in Baghdad, Iraq. He also was part of the UNESCO, Iraqi Contemporary Art Exhibition in Paris in 2007, The Contemporary Sculpture Art ex hibition in Sydney, Australia in 2013, and in the “Visions of the Future” , Etihad Modern art gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE in 2016. The artist held a number of number of Solo Exhibitions including “Arabian Horses” Exhibition in Etihad Modern Art Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE in 2015 and most recently “Hymns of War and Peace” Solo Exhibition, Al Owais Cultural Foundation, Dubai ,UAE in 2017.

Muatasim Al Kubaisy equestrian sculptures allow the figure of the horse to emerge as a symbol of refinement and sophistication, demonstrative of the ability to foster physical prowess, grace, and potency through breeding, patience, and care. His bronze statues, many of which are finished with a layer reminiscent of cracked pottery shards, emerge into the world both as newly wrought objects and artifacts recently unearthed. The artist’s refusal to adhere to one prevailing mode of representa tion evokes the nomadic origins of the Arabian horse.

،ءاــقتراو خومــشب تــضبنو ةــيلح تــسبلت

، ةاــيحلا يــف ةــبغر يــنديزيو يننكــسي اــم اــهنمو يــنفلأي اــم اــهنم ةــعونتم ... لاــمجلا ةرــضح يــف ةــتماص يــتارابع لك لوــقلأ يــتاتوحنم نــم ةــليامتم طوــطخو تاءاــنحنا لك يــف ضــبناو .يــنابق رازــن لاــق اــمك لاــمج لاــمجلا مرــح يــف تــمصلاو يفقثلا دمحم

لوــقيف .>>توــملاو ةاــيحلا

.مــهب صاــخ دــيدج

ةــفاقثلا ةــيعمجب ةيليكــشتلا نوــنفلا ةــنجل

نــيرصاعملا نــينانفلا نــم هــنا ةــظحلام يــهيدبلا نــم نإ بذــجل ةوــقو ةــيلامج ةــقلاع تاــماخلا كــلت نــيب لــعج عاطتــساو ةــعونتم تاــماخ جزــم ىــلع نــكمتو ةردــق ةــعدبملا تأــشن هــنا لوــقلا عيطتــسنف .ةيكيتــسلابلا نــئادللاك ةدــيدج ةداــمو ةــينقت لاــخدإ ةأرــج ىرــن ةــلمع يــفف .يــقلتملا هاــبتنا لجــستو هــقوفت ىــلع ةدهاــش ىقبتــس تاــتوحنملا نــم ةــعومجم مــيدقت اــهللاخ نــم عاطتــسا ةــقلاع تــحنلا نــيبو هــنيب .هتريــس يــف ســيئر اــهنم ةــيبرعلا ةــينفلا ءاــضعلأا نــم رــيثك يــف لاــعف ءزــج ناك لــب هــنفب طــقف يــفتكي مــل يــفقثلا دــمحم ناــنفلاف بــهاوملا ةــيعمج وــضعو ةدــجب نييليكــشتلا تــيب وــضعو فــئاطلاب

نــم قــقح يــتلا ،ةيليكــشتلا تاــناجرهملاو تاقباــسملاو تاكراــشملا نــم رــيثكلا هــل اــضيأو .برــغملاب ةــيبرعلا و م 2007 فــئاطلاب اربــش رــصقب ةروطــسلأا ضرــعم, يصخــشلا هــضراعم نــم .تــحنلا لاــجم يــف زــئاوجلا نــم دــيدعلا .م 2016 ةدــجب ترآ اــماد ةــعاقب ءاــقن ضرــعمو .م 2016 رــبخلاب ءارــحصلا ثارــت ةــعاقب تاــيلجت ضرــعم و م 2008 اــيناملأب ةيدوعــس لــمانأ ضرــعم , م 2007- اــسمنلاب وكــسنويلا ضرــعم

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Born in 1975 in Taif, Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Al-Thaqafi is amongst the pioneers of Saudi Arabia art scene. He has been distinguished in the art of sculpting both locally and internationally. The artist holds a Masters degree in Fine Art, Sculpting department from Umm Al Qura University where his thesis topic was “An Analytical Study of Contemporary Sculpture Trends in Saudi Arabia”.

His style is characterized by his ability to alter raw materials while highlighting their inherent beauty. He expends the space of a shape and creates the value of the abstract beauty though the curiosity of materials. He believes that an artist’s role is not in the creation of beauty, but also to be the reflection of senses and humanity; “I am busy with humans and their intellectual & psychological issues. The two contradictions which begin with Man and Woman ... and even Life and Death” says Al Thagafi regarding his inspiration.

His work has been showcased extensively in group local and international exhibitions including Ex hibition of UNESCO in Austria 2007, Anamel exhibition in Germany, 2008, Misk International Sym posium in Riyadh 2018, and many others in Egypt, Syria, Kuwait, Oman, Morocco, and Russia. Some of his solo exhibitions include; the “Legendary” exhibition at Shoubra Palace in Taif in 2007, and The Desert Heritage exhibition in Khobar 2016. He is also the chairman of the Fine Arts committee in the Art & Culture Association in Taif, and an active member in The House of Artists group in Jeddah, as well as the Arab Talents Association in Morocco.

Al Thagafi won a number of awards, some of which are; The Oscar sculpture in the Biennale of Culture and Arts in Cairo in 2011, and the first place in the Al-Qasbi Fine Arts Competition 2013. His work can be found in many local and international organizations.

Al Thagafi believes in research and experiment and is mainly interested in locally sourced natural mate-rials. In describing Al Thagafi’s work, Artist Youssef Matouk says: “He uses all available envi ronmental raw materials and solids, and he mixes different mediums to be sculpted in a very mag nificent style. He focuses on using the resources of his own land, thus he reflects the Arabic origins. However, he opens the door for the new artistic generation to seek uniqueness and to evolve in their own re-search.”