ONE EYE OPEN is a solo exhibition of
paintings by Syrian artist Rashwan Abdelbaki. Abdelbaki’s work emerges in the context of the ongoing Syrian war and the underlying social crises currently being experienced by the citizens of the Middle East. Abdelbaki’s large and midsized canvases present rich allegorical studies of human relationships using stark abstracted figures and bold colors in evocative domestic tableaux. A recurring motif in Abdelbaki’s paintings are figures clothed in simple striped garments and depicted with one eye open and the other eye closed. The artist says of these figures, “in these faces is the fear that keeps us from sleeping in peace, always vigilant so that we can know what’s happening around us and be prepared. The people (in these paintings) are striped to show how politics and religion constantly strive to group and imprison us: to have us think that we are all different, to divide us according to belief and nationality and color.”
RASHWAN ABDELBAKI is an emerging
ONE EYE OPEN
artist born in 1984 in Damascus, Syria. He graduated from Fine Arts College of Damascus University in 2007. He has had solo exhibitions at Dar Al-Mussawir in Beirut and the Al-Hamra Theatre in Damascus and has received fellowships from the American Academy in Rome, the Institute of International Education’s Artist Protection Fund, and the Vermont Studio Center. For more information about the artist visit: https://www.facebook.com/rashwan.abdelbaki MASON EXHIBITIONS is multiple-venue forum dedicated to displays of visual art that advance research, dialogue and learning around global social issues. Mason Exhibitions provides a platform for University-wide collaboration engaging science, philosophy, communications, conflict resolution, sustainability among others. Mason Exhibitions is a partnership between Mason’s School of Art (SOA) and Provisions Research Center for Arts and Social Change located on the Fairfax campus. For more information about Mason Exhibitions: http://soa.gmu.edu/fine-arts-gallery https://soa.gmu.edu/provisions/
Front Image: Rashwan Abdelbaki, Rocker, 2015 (detail) acrylic on canvas, 140 x 115 cm Poster: Rashwan Abdelbaki, Lost Shoe... Empty Chair, 2016 acrylic on canvas, 164 x 120 cm
PAINTINGS BY
RASHWAN ABDELBAKI
ONE EYE OPEN PAINTINGS BY RASHWAN ABDELBAKI O c t o b e r 2 3 – D e c e m b e r 2 , 2 017
George Mason University School of Art