What should my readers know about your new show, “Endless Night,” Nabil Kanso’s debut solo show in New York?

Nabil is a seminal figure in protest art, an artist who has developed a unique visual style that stemmed from neo-expressionism and mythical Iconography. He was determined to portray that war, no matter how far or foreign has an impact on our universal humanitarian conscience. His message, as powerful as his style of painting, 50 years later, still resonates, even more so today than ever.
How do you choose your artists?

I tend to look at styles and aesthetics, and go into a deeper reading of those artists, and look into how their works fit into a larger contemporary art canon. Artists whose works we exhibit are seminal figures in art history, but often due to marginalization, they have not been given the platform they deserve. I believe the institute stands as a platform for artists who challenge existing narratives and push us to expand our perspectives on what we understand of art.

IAIA works to promote artistic and cultural dialogue between New York City and the Arab and Islamic worlds. Why do you personally find this cause to be important?

It’s important, in a multicultural city, with representations from across various civilizations that the audience understands that artists from the Arab and Islamic regions are present, and are active participants in contemporary global culture. A space like ours brings in diversity and understanding and normalizes being Arab or Muslim at a time when stereotypes and renewed misconceptions of the region create a deeper divide.

You wrote your dissertation on Fauvism and Cubism. What drew you to those movements?

Those movements were seminal in the development of post-war art and had an undeniable impact on movements that developed in the years to follow. Moving away from the traditional forms of representations, Matisse and Picasso drew so much from Cezanne, thus Favism and Cubaism sit at a crossroads between various movements, which allow us to understand why and how styles often evolve and grow.

What are the main differences between artists working in the West and those working in Arab and Islamic parts of the world?

The deep history of Islamic Architecture, Science, and Calligraphy brings a rich and diverse quality to the lives of artists that come from the Arab and Islamic Worlds, as those histories are very present in the aesthetics of cities from the region. Post-war in the Arab world is also defined by conflict. Together there is often an aspect of storytelling in art that comes from the Arab and Islamic Worlds. Western art is a little bit more linear, as certain art movements inspired different waves of styles to develop as a reaction to different moments in history, but also those moments allowed for styles to break away from the norms of classical art and help redefine our conventions of beauty.

Viewed By: