“Jerusalem: City of Paradoxes”
The city of Jerusalem is the focus of Hosni Radwan’s latest series of artworks exhibited at the Zawyeh Gallery virtual space under the title “Jerusalem: City of Paradoxes”. Using charcoal, acrylic, and gold leaf on canvas, Radwan attempts to express his fascination with a city haunted by shades of paradoxes.
Radwan fell in love with the city, the minute he saw it after returning from the diaspora. He was fascinated with the place, its beauty, and contradictions; the little arches, the oriental style of architecture, the smells, the colors, the noises, and the unique way of living. Jerusalem brought the artist closer to safety and belonging as it carried him back to his childhood in the old city of Baghdad (the place where his family was displaced in 1948).
In Radwan’s works, the old city seems tranquil as never been. Using black charcoal mixed with colorful vibrant colors touches metaphorically on the situation of the city, taking history and politics into account. Radwan uses colors and charcoal side by side in a bid to reveal contradictions. The holy city in this series is present with all its details yet it seems hollow as there are no people and very few traces of them.
Radwan Radwan was born in Baghdad in 1955. He studied fine arts at the University of
Baghdad, specializing in graphics. He left Baghdad in 1979 and headed to Beirut, where he
worked in graphic design and journalism while continuing to draw and paint, using his talents to express his position vis-à-vis the cause of his people.
This is the second exhibition that is organized virtually by Zawyeh Gallery. After the success of the first one, the Gallery will announce a program of virtual exhibitions alongside its actual exhibition program in Dubai and Ramallah.
20 October – 31 December 2022
Live: Thursday 20 October
Zawyeh Gallery (virtual space)