H & A Portfolio

Portfolio

Hamad and Ali, two artists with a vision to explore the limits of concepts and design from around the world.

With one mission, to launch a new perspective and understanding bringing these designs in the form of art and creative consultancy at your service.

Hamad Al Saab

Ali Sultan

Acquired a Bachelor of Science

Audio engineer and Lectures graphic

Degree in Computer Information

design and audio engineering

Systems and International Organi-

Since 1999 he has worked as a

zation Behaviour from Washington

sound engineer, composer and

DC in 1999. Worked as an auditor

graphic designer / art director

and now he is specialized in interior

on various personal and

consultation and Furniture design.

commercial projects.

Hamad and Ali are a Pop Art duo who enjoys presenting the Arab culture and history through their contemporary vision by using digital art base and mixed media on canvas in attempt to create their own principle, No Rules, in their artwork.

Their artwork had the honour to be distributed through art collectors around the world such as GCC, Egypt, Lebanon, Paris, Monaco, London, LA, NY, and more.

Their first exhibition was in Kuwait in 2006 presenting the first collection of the Arab celebrities that lead them to the international art journey and relationship with many international art appreciators

Exhibitions

Corniche Event Gallery

May 2007

Kuwait Marina Hotel Reminiscing Kuwait

December 2007

Sultan Gallery Harmony

December 2008

Athar Gallery Jeddah Harmony Remix

February 2010

Tilal Gallery Grand Opening Group Exhibition

October 2010

Sultan Gallery Reminiscing Kuwait II

April 2011

Lahd Gallery London Pop Icons

May 2011

EXHIBI

ITIONS

Disconnecting from Reality, Connecting to Emotions

Mixed media on canvass, acrylic,silk paint, Swarovski Crystal, collage 130 cm x 130 cm - 2011

Connecting to memories

Mixed media on canvass, acrylic,silk paint, Swarovski Crystal, soft pastel 130 cm x 130 cm - 2011

Capturing Memories or losing interest

mixed media on canvas, acrylic, soft pastel, silk paint, epoxy, sand, Swarovski Crystals 120 cm x 180 cm - 2011

Distracted

mixed media on canvas, acrylic, soft pastel, silk paint, epoxy, sand 120 cm x 220 m - 2011

Catching Up

mixed media on canvas, acrylic, soft pastel, silk paint, sand, Swarovski Crystals 110 cm x 160 cm - 2011

Confused Connection

‌ Where music goes beyond lyrics and sound, to become an expression of the free soul.

Mixed media on canvas, acrylic, image transfer, wool threads 100 cm x 100 cm - 2011

Modern Wedding

Mixed media on canvas, acrylic, soft pastel, silk paint, 120 cm x 220 cm - 2011

Gathering to Disconnect 2

Mixed media on canvass, acrylic, oil pastel,silk paint, 130 cm x 135 cm - 2011

Gathering to Disconnect 1

Mixed media on canvas, acrylic, oil pastel,silk paint, 110 cm x 135 cm - 2011

Seeking Connection

Mixed media on canvass, acrylic, oil pastel,silk paint, sand 120 cm x 160 cm - 2011

connect to belong series (Lady)

mixed media on canvas, acrylic, oil pastel,silk paint, Swarovski Crystal 120 x 175cm - 2011

connect to belong series (Man)

mixed media on canvas, acrylic, oil pastel,silk paint, epoxy 120 cm x 175 cm - 2011

Out of the Coverage Area

Mixed media on canvas, acrylic, collage, wool threads, silk paint 225 cm x 75 cm - 2011

Bus Stop

Waiting for change ‌ in glamour.

Mixed media on canvas; Acrylic, Epoxy, Swarovski Crystals 130 cm x 160 cm - 2011

Public Communication

Where are they now?

Mixed media on canvas: Acrylics, enamel, silk paint, epoxy 130 cm x 160 cm - 2011

Gahwa

Once upon a time … not too long ago … “how are you?” Used to actually come from the heart.

Mixed media on canvas: Acrylics, silk paint, epoxy 130 cm x 160 cm - 2011

Generations

When a child holds a pen for the first time, he draws paths‌ But when an adult holds a pen with a particular agenda, he creates a web that could prevent a child from pursuing his path.

Mixed media on canvas mounted on wood: hand colored Iris Print, acrylics, threads fixated on nails 170 cm x 100 cm - 2011

6arab I

‌ Where music goes beyond lyrics and sound, to become a dance of the free soul.

Mixed media on canvas: Acrylics, enamel, silk paint, epoxy 150 cm x 150 cm - 2011

6arab II

‌ Where music goes beyond lyrics and sound, to become an expression of the free soul.

Mixed media on canvas: Acrylics, silk paint, epoxy 130 cm x 160 cm - 2011

6arab II

Finding joy used to be just outside the doorstep‌ Purity used to be the first impression before judgment‌

Mixed media on canvas: Enamel, silk paint, epoxy 110 cm x 220 cm - 2011

Stop, Think

Do we have to take a U-turn or create a new path?

Mixed media on canvas: Silk Paint, Enamel 110 cm x 125 cm 2011

Balance

It was once said that Kuwait was the only country in the region where a commoner can become richer than the ruler. It was a state where merchants and people of different backgrounds and faiths can live in perfect harmony and balance.

Mixed media on canvas mounted: Acrylics, enamel, silk paint, epoxy 110 cm x 125 cm - 2011

Omar Al Shareef

Harmony Exibition Athar Gallery - Jeddah February 2010

Monalisa

Harmony Exibition Athar Gallery - Jeddah February 2010

Hind Rustom

Harmony Exibition Athar Gallery - Jeddah February 2010

Abdul Haleem

Harmony Exibition Athar Gallery - Jeddah February 2010

Fayrouz

Harmony Exibition Athar Gallery - Jeddah February 2010

Um Kulthoum

Harmony Exibition Athar Gallery - Jeddah February 2010

Asmahan

Harmony Exibition Athar Gallery - Jeddah February 2010

Umm Kulthoum

Harmony Exibition Sultan Gallery December 2008

Sufi

Harmony Exibition Sultan Gallery December 2008

Asmahan

Harmony Exibition Sultan Gallery December 2008

fairouz

Harmony Exibition Sultan Gallery December 2008

Fatin Hamama

Harmony Exibition Sultan Gallery December 2008

Mahmood Al Kuwaiti

Harmony Exibition Sultan Gallery December 2008

Rushdi Abadha

Harmony Exibition Sultan Gallery December 2008

Vimto

Harmony Exibition Sultan Gallery December 2008

Hind Rustom

Harmony Exibition Sultan Gallery December 2008

Abdul Haleem Hafiz

Harmony Exibition Sultan Gallery December 2008

Reminiscing Kuwait

Reminiscing Kuwait

Reminiscing Kuwait Exibition Marina Hotel Kuwait December 2007

Reminiscing Kuwait

Reminiscing Kuwait Exibition Marina Hotel Kuwait December 2007

Reminiscing Kuwait

Reminiscing Kuwait Exibition Marina Hotel Kuwait December 2007

Reminiscing Kuwait

Reminiscing Kuwait Exibition Marina Hotel Kuwait December 2007

Reminiscing Kuwait

Reminiscing Kuwait Exibition Marina Hotel Kuwait December 2007

Reminiscing Kuwait

Reminiscing Kuwait Exibition Marina Hotel Kuwait December 2007

Reminiscing Kuwait

Reminiscing Kuwait Exibition Marina Hotel Kuwait December 2007

Reminiscing Kuwait

Reminiscing Kuwait

Reminiscing Kuwait Exibition Marina Hotel Kuwait December 2007

Reminiscing Kuwait

Reminiscing Kuwait Exibition Marina Hotel Kuwait December 2007

Reminiscing Kuwait

Reminiscing Kuwait Exibition Marina Hotel Kuwait December 2007

Hind Rustom

Umm Kulthoum

Corniche Event Gallerh Kuwait March 2007

fairouz

Corniche Event Gallerh Kuwait March 2007

Beduin Beauty

Corniche Event Gallerh Kuwait March 2007

COMISS

SIONED

Asmahan

Um Kulthoum

Royal Aviation Kuwait April 2008

Sawwah Restaurant Kuwait April 2009

Hamburger Union Restaurant Kuwait September 2008

IN THE

PRESS

Bazaar Magazine Kuwait April 2007

Clientele Magazine Bahrain October 2008

Clientele Magazine Bahrain October 2008

Bazaar Magazine Kuwait February 2008

Men’s Passion Magazine Kuwait November 2008

Hamad Al Saab & Ali Sultan Pop Artists

pop art Function: noun Usage: often capitalized P&A Date: 1957 : art in which commonplace objects (as road signs, hamburgers, comic strips, or soup cans) are used as subject matter and are often physically incorporated in the work - pop artist noun often capitalized P

I thought that might be a useful place to begin. For Hamad Al Saab and Ali Sultan I could just as well have searched my dictionary definitions for them as interior designers or graphic artists and introduced them to you in this way, rather than only as pop artists.

Some days it appears possible to move around Kuwait and find that almost everybody one meets is an ‘artist’.

An ‘artist’. Why? Because they own a few brushes and have spread paint across a canvas to the fawning delight of their friends and family? Surely it takes more than this to become an artist.

Look at the artists of days gone by. Such was their skill and passion that their lives were consumed with the creation of objects of beauty. Many were created without a practical reason to exist other than that of aesthetics alone, while others would combine beauty with a purpose.

Perhaps, as I discovered, this is closer to the work of Hamad and Ali.

Hamad Al Saab

Their apparent broad range of work opens them up to the question how they define themselves. Hamad recalls an interview at the time of the first public exhibition of their work, “We were asked where our limits were in regard to our artwork, how far did we feel we could go with it. I often think back to that question. Since that time we have moved to media, to interiors to furniture”, and further to a wide range of not overtly ‘arty’ fields, “but to this day when I look back I see that everything we do in a creative way and through artists eyes”.

You’ll see their work around Kuwait and the region more than you realize. I have to admit a familial interest here - it was Hamad and Ali that worked on the concept and style of Men’s Passion magazine prior to its launch in 2007 and for a full year after. Although no longer involved with the magazine they still

photos courtesy of Tahani Al-Ayoub

It true that both are artists in the purest sense of the word - in that they possess talent and have a clear way of expressing this through traditional work. That they have very skillfully taken this to another, and very 21st Century, level speaks highly of the importance they see in exploiting the tools available to today’s artists in realizing their creations.

Ali Sultan

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regard it as one of the projects to give them greatest professional satisfaction. As Ali says, “We regarded this as our baby. We got involved in many aspects of the magazine, more than just the concept, and in this sense it was typical of other projects”.

Hamad continues “Most of our commercial work is like that, we take a very personal attitude to it, and wherever we see we can add [artistic] value, we do. We take it personally, we fall in love with the project - and that is when we become creative”.

Men’s Passion Magazine Kuwait November 2008

make people stop, look, and think about that object for perhaps the very first time in their lives”, he continued.

The partnership will always consciously seek an opportunity to find a more holistic approach to their creative work - be it corporate identities, interior designs, and also their artwork. We’ll

Although the pop art movement emerged in the United States as far back as the 1950s, many people do not consider pop art as a ‘serious’ art form. Despite this, pieces by some highly regarded and internationally collectable artists can sell for vast sums of money.

“Pop art is valued as a ‘fun’ art form,” they say, “but a lot of people don’t understand the work processes involved in creating these pieces”. I contend that I don’t need to know how an Aston Martin is made in order to be able to drive it. Hamad and Ali make a fair point in responding, “but you do know that it is hand-

discover later how Hamad and Ali have even decided that the commercial success of their art can have other positive side effects on the community too.

made using the very finest materials and craftsmanship. And you do know how to appreciate that. We need to educate people to appreciate what goes in to creating a piece of pop art.”

Without doubt though, Hamad and Ali’s better-known public face is seen at their art exhibitions. Pop art exhibitions.

Many people when they think of pop art think of Photoshop.

Clearly Hamad and Ali’s work, whilst on the whole (but not entirely) digital, relies on far more than that. These are not the artists with a brush and a canvas being fawned over by their family. These are the artists consumed by the possibilities their skills, when combined with the right tools, allow them to reach.

From the time they began working together in 2005 they have persisted in pushing the limits of (at least commercial) acceptability in Kuwait. Their work, whilst it doesn’t re-invent the pop art genre in any way, does explore the viability and taste levels of this part of the Arab world when considering past or present cultural and social icons.

With more traditional art fields there are clear and defined rules some things work, and other things don’t. We know the reasons why, and whilst it is worth pushing hard against certain doors, it is clear that others will never open so we move along. Where pop art is concerned “these boundaries don’t exist, and because nothing we create is hand drawn, we find we can experiment with endless techniques and infinite possibilities”, says Ali. “What we aim to do is to put something on a canvas which is very familiar to everyone. But we’ll do it in such a way that it will

“The music we are listening too now”, it is some quite acceptable jazz-based funk, “was part created on a computer not so different from the one that we all have at home these days - but no one says “that’s easy, I know how you do that, I might as well just do it myself”, instead you appreciate it as a whole”.

What is behind successful pop art is the technique with which the tools are used. Even then, with Hamad and Ali’s work, each canvas is hand-finished, and as a result no two pieces are the same.

Whenever art or creativity is discussed in this part of the world, invariably the question of censorship arises. Interestingly though,

the typical answer is not what anyone from outside the region would expect - in that rather than blatant state-led censorship, it can more fairly be termed ‘self-censorship’ or perhaps less submissively put we’ll call it ‘sensitivity’.

Hamad and Ali use even this to inspire their work. Ali - “Here you have to be more creative. We find we are more challenged to do something which is accepted by society”. It is a challenge they willingly accept, even if it proves a little frustrating at times.

What of the future? Whilst in these past few years they have built a sizeable client (commercial work) and collector (pop art) base,

they have recently opened a commercial office in Dubai. Alongside this there is an exhibition of their art planned for Qatar.

Now, what of their intention that their art should find a life in benefitting the local community?

Their forthcoming show, entitled ‘Harmony’ and inspired by the depth of talent iin the music industry both past and present, will generate funds for the world-renowned Mencap programme which is now available in Kuwait, its first country within the Middle East region. “Everything Mencap does is about valuing and supporting people with a learning disbility. It is hoped that our contribution will make a valuable difference to the lives of these children and their carers”, said Hamad. Don’t misunderstand; this is no ‘charity’ sale. Whilst the exhibition will feature their latest works, some of which are featured on these pages, this is a cause that they both feel passionate about.

This gesture, in its simplest sense, is typical of these artists as men. The mere act of ‘creating’ is not enough. For them it will always be about more.

‘Harmony’, at The Sultan Gallery, Subhan, Kuwait, 16 (opening 6pm) - 18 December, telephone: 2471 4325

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Men’s Passion Magazine Kuwait November 2008

Umkalthoum from the ‘Harmony’ exhibition by: Ahmad Al Saab & Ali Sultan

+965 97160011 • www.hamadandali.com