Kufi by nedim kufi

Nedim KUFI

Works

Bio Art made of Wisdom Kufi was born in Bagdad in 1962; he now lives and works in the Netherlands. Kufi gradu ated in printmaking from Iraq, and then continued to study graphic design and multime dia in the Netherlands and has since then, been caught between the East and the West. He has traversed a long and arduous journey, and the evolution is evident in his works. Kufi’s intellectual work has been presented as multimedia and selected as new media art in a number of important places such as Tate modern, KW Berlin, Tapies foundation Barcelona, Triangle art association – New York and recently was successful in Bonhams London. His visual essay goes through an expression of emptiness, the most. As minimalist he made the sense of smell possible as a visual language by using elements such as henna, mud and soap in his works. Kufi openly invites his viewers to breathe in pure oxygen through their eyes, seeking in all his experimental activities the spiritual energy and the hidden power of the materials. Kufi likes to give viewers an opportunity to see, discover and even touch his works thus creating a quality that one remembers well after experiencing one of his pieces. On the other hand he has been actively developing 3D designs and movies that provide urban solutions and have the ability to turn into functional public spaces. He recently established ‘Taj› (iBook online) – www.taj.nu

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The Wrong time 2011 Netherland 300x150 cm Digital Photograph on canvas Animation Process

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Deaf News 2011 Netherland 300x150 cm digital print on canvas Fascinated by the expressivity of sign language as a medium, Nedim Kufi created his work „Deaf News“. He was inspired by the television channel Al Jazeera, which provides a simultaneous translation of the news for deaf viewers in the left-hand corner of the screen. For hearing viewers the highly expressive gestures of the translator underline the eventful nature of what is being said - in contrast to the largely motionless broadcast of the newsreader. In doing so, they enrich the news coverage beyond the abstraction of the spoken word. Kufi describes the quality of comunication in gestures as direct, solid, intensive, sharp and narrative - in a sense appearing to do greater justice to what is really happening. This observation addresses a fundamental problem that art and journalism have in common: namely the fact that the presentation of reality can never be objective – it is shaped, but its shaping is without abstraction.

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An iraqi fils (Bonhams-London) 2010 Netherland 140x140 Each (dyptich) Oil on canvas As a unit of currency the Iraqi fils was fazed out of circulation in 1959 with the beginning of Iraqi Republic. ‘The fils has the potential to create stories and changes destinies and it is a dramatic moment when we toss the coin to the air looking if it’s heads or tails, win or lose. Coin flipping is the interpretation of a chance outcome as the expression of divine will. ‘Some people in Iraq used to keep a one fils coin in their pocket for good luck. One shouldn’t belittle the fils and 1000 fils makes one dinar, one fils less and it is not a dinar. ‘Because of its duality or double faced meaning I found it an important icon to depict artistically and was concerned with how it often influences politics, religion or faith, economy and cultural practice. With this work I am trying to reach the spectators eyes and mind from an uncommon point of view but with a very common coin.’

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NASS 2010 Netherland 300x150 cm Digital Photograph

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Soul 2010 Beirut 150x90 cm Each (4part) Red soap with Jasmin

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Mind moon 2010 Bahrain 160x140 cm Soap

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Brainwash 2011 KW - Berlin 60x60 cm Each (dyptich) Digital print (Lambda Print) Images of terrorist attacks can be seen live, and within seconds they are dispatched via media portals throughout the world. In the UN Security Council a tapestry with the Guernica motif is veiled, and soon after a satellite photo is presented as a central argument to justify the war. Images of an execu tion are broadcast live to the White House, though no photos are leaked to the public. Images spread instantaneously and appear to be the only evidence required to render an event credible and immediate. Seeing is believing, and yet images still manage to overwhelm our imagination, our belief in reality. The realization that images are not merely the objects of a non-media reality but instead create their own realities has become an integral part of the ability to read contemporary images. The visual immediacy of political events, the politicization of images and their uncontrollable speed of circulation have led to intense reflection in contemporary art on the power and status of the image.

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Absence 2009 Netherland 120x130 Each (dyptich) Digital print on canvas (dyptich) I present here two inseparable images, exemplifying one existence, which tell the story of a departing homeland and of my resettlement away from it. The setting of the image was once our home in Kufa during the 1960s. The first image is that of my father, which he took with his dark red-box camera, and the second is of me, which I have modified with Photoshop as an unrestrained expression of my feelings of emptiness and banishment. Nearly forty years separate the two images, and by this act of remembrance, I am attempting to recollect that moment in time; emotionally, intellectually and qualitatively. Whilst the situation in my country, Iraq, which I now watch from a distance, is deteriorating day after a day, there remains a virtual and concurrent existence between the two images, marking that daunting distance. It expresses the disconnection between the home of my childhood and that of my expatriation. Omitting my persona from the first image would, I think, be unique, if taken as a serious visual drama, an expression to help me reach closure by translating my hidden feelings during a lengthy period of loss and despair. I do not, however, think that this portrays my case only; it is the condition of every migrant departing his homeland, either willingly or forcefully, going astray into the unknown. My suggestion here is of an imaginary space, within which I might be able to acknowledge the plethora

of illusions and obsessions which have occupied my mind, and which have brought me forward towards a serious search within this imaginary space. My question throughout the search has been, ‘Who omits whom?’ After such a prolonged absence from my homeland, and after missing finding the way back, ‘home’ became in my view, no more than an image empty of its prima facie content, flimsy as the word ‘missing,’ now so commonly circulated in Iraq. In my longing, I have dreamt up fantastic plans to get out of the isolation I feel, away from my motherland, and to enter it once more through a loophole that has not been noticed by others. Thus, I have struggled to look through ‘that inside eye,’ as in a time machine, and to roam through that time in the past, for which I long. As for the feeling of emptiness, I am now discovering the truth about it. It is so painful to merge an existing moment with a past one after the passage of more than forty years, even though to do so is suffused with a sense of energy, calmness and a breath of fresh air. The melodious voice of Umm Kulthum coming from that radio on the shelf, and that of the birds, filling the backyard of our house, with their echo thudding deep in my heart, and the shine that glimmers in that image. The purpose in my mind outruns that in my eyes, which is to freeze these two moments as I stand confused in the middle. Be cautious! My idea here is not necessarily imaginary, and is not a reflection of the anguish of homesickness and nostalgia, which I have overcome with time without any bargains. It is, however, a real and deep awareness which can, through artistic expression and creativity, reach re mote islands of happiness and relief within the mind. My purpose is to find a pure space of value in times long gone, that surpasses the value of the present. A comprehensive look at such questions leads to such an answer as: ‘Omission, as seems, is the first and last solution.’gfh

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Dizzy Dome 2011 Netherland viritual object Bronze Critical artistic thinking as visual outcome of long discussion about using Islam now days badly treated by the name of god also reflecting on one of Islamic terminology that represents the dome as important land mark as possible identity of Islamic world It is global meaning we can share through such structural Islamic element; it is an actual being on today our Life Theater We are all involved in such interactive rare game; unfortunately it becomes hard to figure out who is the player and what is beyond that total game. Unbalanced, unsettled, unclear, dizzy dome is one situation addressed daily conflict religious practicing Thinking this way would imply modeling of solid statement that targeting to communicate with the other obviously and by high consideration the dome means little common sky, spiritual icon in Islamic world hard Rotating of dome with choreographic position present scene of silence, a frozen expression moment as far as the visual presentation goes, possibly due to public sending gesture to eyes and minds and definition of performance that clearly taken main part of rethinking job.

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Breaking News 2012 Netherland 200 cm each wood and print