Ayyam Gallery is pleased to present to (t)irony the first solo exhibition featuring Sharjah-based Iraqi sculptor Muatasim Alkubaisy’s work.

(t)irony features Alkubaisy’s largest body of work yet, composed of a selection of figures, portraying those that have been ruined by power. These non-deserving and corrupt characters utilise their positions to suffocate and belittle the common man. The artist transforms misery and discrimination into sophisticated and intricate characters through a delicate yet deliberate touch. He magnifies and exaggerates traits creating caricatural portraits, presenting a sarcastic consciousness, and exposing the arrogance of their behaviors and practices.

The figures are merely cartoon characters with puffed bellies and swollen jugular veins. Concealed by dress, their physical deformities, malignancy, and evil schemes still show through the bronze’s smooth surfaces. The intimidation, evil, and terror are deprecated into mockery, becoming objects.

The characters are situated in different environments, positioned with different stances, alone or in groups. Some read a paper or are on the toilet, trivialising and making them more humane, more attainable. Embedded, are tokens of symbolism, the rats representing vermin qualities such as filth, cruelty, and disease.

Courtesy of Ayyam Gallery

Image caption: Muatasim Alkubaisy, Untitled, 2020, Bronze, Edition of 8, 23 x 40 x 21 cm