Lot 144: THAIER HELAL (SYRIAN, B. 1967) Terrain Spirits each: stamped with the artis

THAIER HELAL (SYRIAN, B. 1967) Terrain Spirits each: stamped with the artist’s stamp, signed in Arabic, signed and dated twice Thaier 16 2016’ (on the reverse) mixed media on canvas laid down on panel, in four parts each: 71 5/8 x 36in. (182 x 91.5cm.) overall: 71 5/8 x 144in. (182 x 366cm.) Executed in 2016

EXHIBITED: Dubai, Ayyam Gallery, Thaier Helal Landmarks II, 2017. This highly textured white mural entitled Tadaris Al Roh (Terrain Spirits) is a refection of Thaier Helal’s soul and the impact of the heart-breaking crisis that has hit his native Syria since 2011. The series from which this expressive work belongs to refects the beauty and versatility of nature of his beloved land and his hometown of Mount Qalamoun. The artist recreates his recollection of the solid old rocks, the fowers’ scents, and the shapes and various tones of pebbles which echoed in the diversity of the Syrian people and their diferent beliefs and ethnicities. Helal’s work focuses on two essential complementary and powerful elements of nature: water and mud. For the artist, water carries life through our blood and the fertile land welcomes the seeds that give birth to life. He attributes the lines in his work to our veins and to the roads that the Syrian revolution has engraved; the deeper they are the strongest the cause of the people of Syria continues. Tadaris Al Roh brilliantly reveals the agony of his people and the changing Syrian landscape through its extensive layering of texture, and represents a register to his own say on the Syrian daunting tragedy. ‘But the colourful sceneries of Syria have shaped me: from sturdy long white winters, to fresh beautiful lively springs, I was constantly struck by this beauty and the ephemeral status of nature. And today when I think of my beloved country, this is what I see.’ (The artist in conversation with Hala Khayat, 2017).

PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner.