Ayyam Gallery is pleased to present Kais Salman’s most recent body of work in his solo Fables in the Unknown. We look forward to welcoming you at the gallery for the vernissage in presence of the artist from 6 to 9 pm on September 19th.
A fable is a literary genre, a succinct fictional story that features animals and legendary creatures and leads to a particular ‘moral’ lesson. Kais does the visual equivalent in his work, creating his imaginary world in which his characters represent the masses. He illustrates civilization’s pros and cons and the chaos of the human condition. There’s a difference between reading and seeing an idea; a writer dictates his concept. Visually, the artist is only giving you tools to provide you with a glimpse at the complete picture. Leaving it open-ended. There’s no solution, no answer; it’s a chance to dream. Creating emotions, taking you to a different world, a different universe.
This body merely continues his previous work, in which he plays with technique, stepping away from flatness and playing with impasto. This transition is also a significant part of the storytelling and plot. Kais explains that he does not visualize the composition before working on a canvas, the painting starts in abstraction, layers of dark tones, and through it, he finds forms and highlights those with brightness. Creating composition through light and finding meaning in the dark. Playing with size, alternating big and small limbs, creating depth. Makes your eye jump through the background and foreground and the spaces between.
Taking the comparison to fables even further, the artist focuses on sarcasm in his work. Placing evil alongside good, creating groups and multiple narratives at once, and creating a specific scenography. That said, the dark humor is meant to enlighten reality and envisions a better place. The closest layer of paint is where the truth lies, where the plot thickens. The chaos gives us options and freedom in reading what we desire. Each painting has a specific thought process and narrative, placing some type of comedic character and main character.
Kais’s paintings are a representation of emotions and sentiments. Charges of positive and negative thoughts, feelings, and energy are projected onto the canvas with motion. He believes each person has evil and kind traits. Kais removes the wickedness and only shows the positive when creating his animated characters. Kais focuses on their eyes and hand, explaining that they’re the source of expression in all of us. Creating caricatures and sweet monsters, they unveil Kais’s naiveté.
