Edge of Arabia Projects and Ayyam Gallery are proud to present Man of War, the first UK solo exhibition of paintings, drawings and prints by London- based Iraqi-British artist, Athier. Renowned for his iconic style that draws on a range of influences, from European Modernism to contemporary Iraqi art, Athier’s striking new body of work explores notions of fluidity and the circum- stances in which we become detached from human destruction, themes with profound resonance in recent Iraqi history.
Athier left Iraq before the first Gulf War in 1990 and has divided his life since then between London and Paris. His works reflects his past, with each canvas a deft and imaginative integration of motifs, which include Mesopotamian and Assyrian symbolism, figurative abstraction and Islamic geometry. Elsewhere there are echoes of a pre-revolutionary Iraq, testament to the powerful and enduring sense of exile and nostalgia, which suffuses so much of Athier’s work.
