Illuminated shapes and bold lines come together in constructivist compositions whereby chaos is ordered through simple abstracted geometric colors and lines. “Through the Looking Glass” opening on Monday at Ayyam Gallery’s DIFC space is Syrian artist Mouteea Murad’s first solo show in Dubai.
Murad’s work is one of continuous experimentation. Since 2009 he has labeled his canvases with the word “trial” indicating his ongoing process of artistic discovery. He is greatly influenced by the aesthetic values of Islamic art and embeds his abstract canvases with a strong sense of spirituality.
His work echos schools of abstract experiment over the course of the twentieth-century with a seemingly particular kinship to Mondrian’s post-war geometric compositions. Murad nevertheless appropriates pasts influences with his own contemporary experiments and emphasizes how the origins of international abstraction can be derived from the simple principles of Islamic art.
