Ayyam Gallery, Dubai (DIFC) is pleased to invite you to the opening of Othman Moussa’s first solo exhibition 'The Throne' on Monday, March 19 at 7pm. Upholding his superb draughtsmanship and influences of seventeenth-century Dutch realism, Moussa’s new works veer away from traditional still life painting of inanimate objects within Syrian life that quietly and poetically speak to the viewer, to a form of still life that shouts. Beautifully rendered, an oriental carpet covers a heavily draped armchair. It is the objects that occupy this throne, which present a satirical, subdued political commentary.
Draping oriental carpets over the thrones places the realm of kingdoms under scrutiny within the Middle East. Though the majority of works are comprised of the same elaborately motifed carpet with only minor color differences, one work stands dramatically on its own. A bold red, simply designed carpet ascended by a worn-out soldier’s boot covers this throne. Entitled, The King, the viewer may simply interpret this boot-capped throne as any government which controls its people through military dominance. Yet the extreme variation in the composition of this carpet with its rich red field may also symbolize the present bloodshed of the many people and countries engaged in the ‘Arab Spring’, a revolution which sees the people taking up arms against the rulers who have occupied positions of power for too long.
‘The Throne’ is an exceptional example of the degree of artistic realism still prevalent in contemporary art, as well as a biting satire of the present-day political ambitions and policies of world leaders.
Born in Zabadani, Syria, a rural town on the outskirts of Damascus, in 1974, Othman Moussa has emerged as Syria’s leading Hyperrealist despite economic hardship. Moussa’s unwavering resolve and artistic prowess led him to a successful partnership with Ayyam Gallery shortly after entering its Shabab Ayyam competition for emerging artists in 2007. A graduate of the Adham Ismail Centre for Plastic Arts and the Walid Izzat Institute for Sculpture in 2000, he began his artistic career by entering group exhibitions in Syria, including three consecutive years of the annual Youth Salon in Damascus.
