Galerie Claude Lemand

DIA AL-AZZAWI, SCULPTURES.

« An Iraqi living in London, Dia Al-Azzawi is a pioneer of con­tem­po­rary Arab art. He could well be the Picasso that the East was lacking. Not only for his vibrant black and white polyp­tych depicting the mas­sacre of Sabra and Chatila. (…)

Having worked for a long time in the sector of con­ser­va­tion of his home country’s antiq­ui­ties, his inspi­ra­tion derives from mem­o­ries and from the ground in order to chal­lenge time and men. He fuses the elon­gated Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian shapes with the nat­ural sed­i­men­ta­tion of desert roses. His bright colours derive from the kilims tra­di­tion­ally worn by the women in southern Iraq whilst his sur­re­al­istic decon­struc­tions res­onate modern British sculp­ture. His ritual and time-honoured sculp­ture, in front of which one must look up to as if standing before a text of laws, pre­sents itself as a series of steles that are simul­ta­ne­ously joyful and fune­real, as they draw the atten­tion of the people alive to com­mem­o­rate the dead. » (Emmanuel Daydé)

« No, there is no Iraqi, Syrian or Moroccan art. For the first time in the his­tory of Arab art, the artist feels that he is part of the world. Civilization is a pro­ject of Humanity. I there­fore strive to pro­duce works that fall within the cul­ture of the entire humanity. » (Dia Al-Azzawi)