Hanging suspended from the ceiling, Bassim Al Shaker’s Sky Revolution, is one of the pieces from his “Four Minutes” series, in which the artist portrays scenes he witnessed immediately following bombings during the Iraq War in 2003. Reminiscent of the giant ceiling paintings of cathedrals, when you look at the work from below, it feels like the sky during the aerial bombardment is closing in on you. The sky, air, rubble flying overhead, and the deafening explosion, together with an odd, momentary frozen silence were etched into his memory.
While being based on personal experience, the works of Al Shaker, who survived the tumultuous times of his home country starting in his teen years, depict scenes etched in the collective subconscious, and also serve as media for examining the modern history of Iraq. Al Shaker describes how his paintings portray both destruction and loss as well as hope for the future and the joy of being alive in the following way. “These paintings are not about death. They are not about the bomb. They are about the moment after. Each painting is a new beginning. There is death, but I have a new life. I am still alive.”
Colors that are more vibrant and bright than before have been used in his new works New Birth and Allegory of the Sky and ten small pieces. The flowers depicted seem to be both the last moment of life as it is hurled through the air by a blast as well as something that continues to bloom boldly, albeit unpretentiously, truly embodying the triennial’s theme of “A Time Between Ashes and Roses,” and making you sense the ephemeral and precious nature of life lived in the present moment.