Through this series of abstract compositions, Emirati visual artist Ziad Al Najjar invites us to introspect on our physicality and our connection with the external world. The work recontextualizes artwork Al Najjar observed at the Islamic Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago. During his five years in Chicago, he found sanctuary and familiarity within the collection, from miniature paintings to textiles. Through this practice, he resurrects their formal and cultural qualities in a contemporary light, appreciating the representational and historical elements lost within the confines of the museum, in a place so far from their ancestries.
In this sequence of abstract acrylic and pastel works, gestural marks unfurl on the canvas, creating rhythms that exude an almost vibrational quality. This process establishes a connection with the organic, the elevated, and the strange. The artworks in this series evoke a sense of familiarity yet Al Najjar's constructed environment is simultaneously alien. Once again, Al Najjar encourages us to engage in profound contemplation of our existence.