Issam Darwish, a talented
and original Syrian painter, was influenced by the philosophy of
the surrealist movement at the beginning of his career, but he
eventually found his mode of expression in magical realistic
paintings.
This artist is motivated a
great deal by the Syrian poet Adonis's idea of existence which
indeed inspires most of his paintings: "there is a hidden,
invisible and mysterious side to existence which we cannot find
by logical and rational means. In addition, humans are deficient
in knowledge and existence. The pathway to this mysterious
aspect is very personal and individual…. The immense experiences
of discovering the hidden side all converge one way or another
behind languages, behind limits, and also behind cultures".
Issam's major theme is the depiction of the relationship between
human interior spaces and nature; the relationship between what
is closed and what is open, between the inside and the outside.
He is concerned also with nature - individual nature, the
epitome of nature, and the idea of nature - which for Issam
means a place of meditation, immortality and paradise.
"The world I paint is a parallel equivocal world, and although
it is a hypothetical and magical world its elements are
realistic so, to be clearly displayed, they need paint, light
and shade, composition, colours and the suggestion of colour. I
paint ethereal places and the beauty of individual moments where
the passage of time is difficult to suppose. I paint flowers,
cats, humans, doors opened to light and shade, I paint plots,"
as Issam put it.
In fact, he captures very special moments of perfect landscapes,
producing dream-like sensations, and through this sense of
overflowing serenity he shapes a better, more peaceful world for
us. His dreamlike visions are further enhanced by the technique
of dotted brush strokes (pointillist technique) and his laconic
palette.
Door
Painting
His painting Door (100 cm X 90 cm) was done in 2004. Here he
depicts a bedroom whose opened door leads to a charming natural
scene with a female figure standing in the middle. The whole
work is enveloped in a sense of solemn silence and majestic
tranquility. Even the model is depicted in stillness in order to
convey her pensive state. The only thing which stirs is her
transparent shawl which is moved by an invisible gust of wind.
The objects in the room – the bed, a painting, a vase of flowers
- are almost a monochromatic blue. They are placed in the
shadowed foreground thus leading the eye in towards the light at
the centre of the canvas. His marks are soft dotted brush
strokes with a smooth texture.
Issam's artistic works invite the viewer to live a dream of
peace and harmony, to experience a moment of honesty and truth,
a moment of contemplation and reflection, a moment of hope and a
moment of love and purity.
Issam Darwish was born in Damascus in 1952 and graduated from
the Faculty of Fine Arts (Department of Drawing & Painting) in
1979. He continued his higher studies in 1987. Besides his
participation in collective exhibitions since graduation, he has
also had many solo exhibitions. He established the Ishtar
Gallery in 1989 in Damascus, the Ajial Gallery in Lebanon in
1995, the Arts Centre in Bahrain in 2000 and others. In addition
to being a talented painter, he writes short stories and art
criticism.
Arts