Ayyam Gallery presents Navigating Through Nothing, a solo exhibition showcasing Thaier Helal’s latest work. Inspired by Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus, the exhibition explores absurdism, emphasising the struggle for meaning in an indifferent universe. Helal’s artistic evolution reflected this philosophy: his earlier works were defined by grid-like structures and heavy materials, symbolising constraint and weight. Over time, Helal’s expression transformed into fluid, dynamic strokes that captured immediacy and authenticity.
Helal’s recent pieces invite intuitive engagement, allowing each brushstroke to narrate its story. Through layers of texture, light, and shadow, Helal’s work created abstract spaces that symbolise love, life, hope, and the complexities of existence. His pieces resonate with nature’s cyclical processes—growth, decay, renewal—and convey philosophical themes of mortality and human experience.
In his statement, Helal shares that his work reflects a personal journey with mortality, aiming to translate these experiences into universal aesthetic forms. The layers in his art mimicked natural and mysterious phenomena, embodying contemplation and the ever-changing aspects of existence. These overlapping elements parallel the spiritual and material discoveries found through experimentation, portraying themes of darkness, nihilism, loss, and continuous failures without logical explanation. Through his art, Helal offers a profound space for viewers to reflect on human resilience and the search for meaning amidst life’s uncertainties.
Interview with Thaier Helal
What inspired your shift from a structured, grid-like approach to a more fluid and expressive technique in your recent works?
This body of work embodies a continuous journey of experimentation, dedication, moments of self-rebellion, and adherence to the disciplined routines I impose in my creative work. It is a testament to the skills I have honed and mastered over time. These abstract paintings capture the essence and foundational roots of my artistic experience, this series was carefully selected by the curator, Maya Samawi, after extensive review and in-depth discussions. The sources of inspiration are limitless, as long as I am alive and naturally influenced by everything happening around me. This is the inherent nature of creative work—subject to forces and factors that cannot be ignored, especially during periods of major events or transformative shifts affecting human existence.
The expressive style I have embraced and refined in recent years is marked by evolving dynamics, infinite repetitions, and roots in a rich visual heritage. Yet, it remains fluid, adaptable, and ever-changing, like a river that can expand, contract, or even deconstruct itself. I believe no style holds absolute sanctity, fixed boundaries, or a defined endpoint. I allow myself the freedom to transcend constants and move fluidly through my creative practice. This recent work is not a departure, but rather a parallel path within my artistic journey.
The process of deconstruction serves as a profound philosophical approach for analysing, rethinking, and uncovering the meanings embedded in conceptual performance, visual compositions, and innovative creative contexts. This approach invites reinterpretation and opens new avenues for exploring parallel concepts, creating new visual narratives, and engaging in boundless experimentation and innovation. My goal remains the pursuit of the overall experience—the whole, rather than isolated parts.
How has Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus influenced the philosophy behind your art, particularly in this exhibition?
We all live with the shock of our inability to find solutions to even the simplest of problems. Our lives pass as we search for answers, while the universe remains indifferent to individuals and their fates, making life appear devoid of purpose. According to Camus, this realisation should not lead to surrender or psychological collapse; instead, it is a call to rebellion and constant struggle between our desire to find meaning and a world devoid of satisfactory answers. Given the pervasive absurdity and nihilism of everyday life, and with no sign of improvement, Camus’ idea of embracing life with a different perspective, even with joy, becomes a beacon. He believed that Sisyphus’ eternal punishment of rolling a boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down and start again, represents an act of happiness, not punishment. As an artist, I am fascinated by this philosophical notion. I find it as inspiring as other concepts that delve into core questions of our existence and have greatly influenced contemporary culture. This idea of reconciling with oneself has always resonated with me. Studying Greek myths during my university years in the arts left me in awe of their fertile imagination, offering cosmic mysteries and enchanting meanings that have inspired humanity for millennia. I find the contemporary interpretation of the myth of Sisyphus—a symbol of eternal punishment, absurdity, and happiness—intriguing. It serves as a metaphor for the interplay between reality and myth. Turning a destructive reality into an inspiring subject is a form of defiant therapy, confronting absurdity with joy and challenge. Camus believed that while life lacks a defined purpose in a contradictory world, humans must rebel against life’s absurdity despite knowing its fate. This rebellion, he argues, grants freedom, with the conclusion that ‘we must imagine Sisyphus happy in his absurd fate.’ Strength lies in challenging absurdity and embracing struggle as a part of life, rather than succumbing to it.
What emotions or experiences are you aiming to convey through your dynamic, loose strokes?
My works embody expressive and abstract artistic values that manifest through liberated practices of experimentation. Although I am not interested in attributing specific emotions to my art, nor is it necessary for it to convey precise messages, I find this approach to be a form of rebellion and boundless happiness. This concept aligns closely with the absurd notion we discussed earlier. The happiness derived from endless, often eternal attempts at painting is not for expressing lost causes or achieving victory or success; instead, I view art as noble, sincere, and a path to joy. This joy is found in the small and large canvases alike. The goal or significance lies in the act of starting anew each time, with the delight, pride, and happiness we feel in the act of painting itself—a struggle on the journey to the summit, not the summit itself. The talent granted to me is like Sisyphus’ boulder—a beautiful divine punishment and fate that brings me joy.
Your artist’s statement touches on themes like mortality, renewal, and creation. Can you elaborate on how these ideas manifest in your abstract compositions?
Abstract art is a rich, intriguing world full of hidden expressive treasures. It is a distinct style, free from heavy traditional values, that provides me, as an artist, with an astonishing energy to translate the things around me. It mirrors the universe’s power and nature’s immense energy, with its chemical, physical, and biological interactions. This is where my experience with success, creation, as well as bodily and spiritual decay—pervasive and dominant in moments of absurdity—comes into play. These continuous, fluctuating phenomena, whether perceived or not, shape our awareness, beliefs, and duties. The boundless processes of creation and decay are ever-present in our daily environment, which I strive to reflect or project in my work through the continuous experimentation of building colour layers, whether transparent or thick, large or small. Through the transformations these materials undergo during painting, images and symbols emerge, forming indirect depictions of concepts or realities. In my artistic practice, I seek to liberate materials, colours, lines, lighting, and layers from traditional meanings to become symbolic or, at times, devoid of meaning altogether. This aesthetic journey, with its dynamic transformations, becomes a form of expression—a journey with painting and a joy in exploring details without a clear destination. This exhibition marks the first display of such experiments that have influenced my path, inspired by the nature I love and always turn to.
Location: Ayyam Gallery, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai
Dates: 14 November 2024 – 5 January 2025