In the studio with renowned Syrian artist Fadi Yazigi
In the heart of ancient
Damascus, internationally acclaimed Syrian artist Fadi Yazigi delicately inspects a neat set of assorted paintings, sculptures, and reliefs.
Yazigi, 57, is at home in his Bab Sharqi atelier, drawing intricate sketches that are sometimes comical, cartoonish even, giving glimpses of the unorthodox techniques of one of Syria's most creative modern artists.
“(Jean) Dubuffet is a big inspiration for me.” He told Arab News, referring to the late French painter and sculptor. “I feel the humanistic side, the pain and suffering of everyday people, from the homeless person in the street to those stricken in poverty. I feel they are always right,” he added.
One glance at Dubuffet's work and the influence is conspicuous. The artist, who died in 1985, embraced so-called "low art" and discarded traditional beauty standards in favor of an authentic approach to capturing people and places in his art.
“I try to explore new materials in my work, to experiment with a wide variety of means and forms; each new material gives me a feeling whether on canvas, cardboard, textiles or papers, using acrylic, oil and ink, I depict people and human emotions,” Yazigi explained of his style. Yazigi's work is housed in a number of international public collections, including at the British Museum in London, The Delfina Foundation in London and at the Kaleemat Foundation in Istanbul, among other locations.
“I'm working on the idea of * memory. It's inspired by the tale of Kalila and Dimna, where there is a phasic flow, where square artworks are ornamented with heads that suggest different emotions and stories. It's relevant to general human nature,” the artist explained of his latest work.
Kalila and Dimna are a collection of fables where the heroes are animals. The Indian-origin tale — composed in Sanskrit possibly as early as the third century B.C. — was translated into Arabic by Ibn Al-Muqaffa in the eighth century.