Khan al-Maghrabi Exhibition
In his recent exhibition in Khan al-Maghrabi in Cairo, Ihab Shaker comes up
with a new vision, one mixing modern "form" with its structural composition
and techniques with a "content" fraught with meaning and intimations.
The harmonious intimacy he creats permeates his work, like a timid yet tantalizing
tune that combines profound intensity with slow-paced tranquility. All of
his paintings exude a sense of contradiction. Shapes resolve into aggressive
straight lines only to contort without notice, then retreat, before emerging
again to curve and undulate, to prance about with sweet suppleness.
The images Ihab creates bend, bow, entwine, and intersect in whimsical rebellion.
His manner of painting is anything but straight-out pictorial. It is an "artistic
action" that parallels, even rivals music. Ihab's methods transcend the barrenness
of convention.
He is perhaps more inspired by the audible than the visual, attempting to
turn melodies into their visible equivalence. He uses the media of painting
to accomplish what musical tunes achieve, but stops short from absolute abstraction.
He manipulates shape and color, but in a restrained manner.
He experiments with chaos, but refuses to ditch completely the laws of motion.
Ihab tackles his subject as if music and the musicians are a continuum.
The musicians remain ever present, but they morph into an endless number of
triangular and circular shapes, superimposed and overlapping, crisscrossing
in noisy proximity, or disengaging with quiet dignity, their mood tallying
with the acoustics enveloping them, their physical arrangement mirroring that
of the pieces they perform.
As the violin lets out elegant, thin, stretchable sounds, defiant in hues
of yellow and red, the cello speaks out in deeper tones, giving substance
to the structure.
And when the local drum, tabla, issues its manly, husky beat, a balanced rhythm
is achieved, equality between light and darkness is attained. Suddenly, a
happy and intermittent sound comes along, bouncing in the levity of the harp-like
canoon.
This creates a zigzag of action, encouraging bodies and arms to twist and
twirl in pure enchantment. Ihab strips shapes of their form and turns them
into a harmonious music.
Or perhaps he distills the sounds we hear, harnessing them into visual impressions.
What helps him in producing this exquisite art are his tremendous skills that
enable him to harness the imaginary at will. Ihab's is a first class act,
one of masterful technique, aesthetic perception, and exceptional vision.
He blends all of the above to create visions to offer us controlled chaos
and endless playfulness.
By Dr. Farouk Basyouni |
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