Name/Title
Untitled (1990)Entry/Object ID
2020.9Tags
On View, LoanDescription
"My work has developed over the years from a figurative to a non-figurative approach. My cultural roots encompass Arabic writing, Islamic design, as well as Byzantine images such as icons of the Orthodox Church. The Byzantine influence manifests itself mainly through the suspension of images, the sense of design, and a non-objective approach to the human figure. Elements of the Arabic scripts, Naskhi and Kufic, is manifested in my work in the balance of curvilinear configurations and geometricity." -- Sari Khouri
Wall label:
Sari Ibrahim Khoury (1941-1997) was a Palestinian-American abstract expressionist artist born in Jerusalem. In interviews with Khoury during the 1990s, he shares the lasting impacts of Palestinian dispossession, learning to “internalize the agony of our impoverished status.” Khoury felt his only therapy was in drawing. In a personal statement by Khoury in 1996, he shares “As a youngster, I spent a lot of time studying the designs in our oriental rug to see how all the units interlocked in a rhythmical figure-ground relationship. But there is more to cultural influences that can be hidden and inherent. Nature has its influences in subtle ways- such as an abundance of blue where blue skies abound in one's childhood. Mannerisms and customs such as those associated with native Jerusalemites, which were characterized by gentleness and civility, somehow manifest themselves in methods of expression.” In this untitled artwork using acrylic on canvas, Khoury shows his prolific layered geometric style, presenting a poetic visual message to viewers that remains coded in abstraction.
Please do not touch the artwork.Artwork Details
Medium
Acrylic paint on canvas
