Wandering through the space of the exhibition “Between Memory and Transformation”, the experiences of five Saudi plastic artists – Qusay Al Awami, Dalia Talal, Khouloud Al Omari, Hussein Khubair and Fatima Haqmi – come together in a profound visual dialogue that collides with the concepts of memory, identity and transformation.
The exhibition, which opened the day before yesterday at the Saudi Center for Visual Arts’ Bride of the Red Sea (Jeddah) in the presence of visual art enthusiasts and enthusiasts, marked the maturation of the Saudi plastics movement and the diversity of its contemporary paths.
Although these five experiments are shaped within a common conceptual horizon, there are clear differences in references and methods. Similar in visual aesthetics but different in intellectual themes, experiments are brought together by a consciousness of color and brush, a disciplined cultural production, and an artist’s ethics. To present wonderful plastic models that contributed to the development of the Saudi visual arts movement.
Qusay al-Awami’s experience stems from visual memories of objects and clay architecture, and he uses layers of color, cutouts, and Arabic script to construct abstract paintings that recall the past without falling into a direct search. His work is based on reconstructing rather than copying artifacts, creating a visual discourse that treats memory as material that can be deconstructed and reformulated. Qusay Al Awami is a visual artist from Dammam who has had a long career of solo and group exhibitions, as well as national and international participation, and is increasing his presence in Saudi Arabia’s art scene.
Daria Talal presents the experiences that arise from the physical and emotional relationship with horses, transforming from the subject matter of the painting to a psychological and motor extension within the painting. She employs an expressive style that reduces form in favor of emotion. Her works are characterized by intense movement and color tension in vivid visual spaces. Dalia Talal is a visual artist and jockey from Jeddah. She has solo exhibitions and group participation that reflect the uniqueness of her experience.
As for Khoroud Al Omari, she works on spatial memory as an open visual text, drawing inspiration from the walls and windows of the southern part of the kingdom, as well as popular architectural details found in some of Jeddah’s old alleys. It relies on surface, texture, and exfoliation as semantic elements representing changes in time, absence, and place. Kholoud Al-Omari is a Saudi visual artist from Jeddah. She has a background in design and has participated in multiple exhibitions in the Kingdom.
In Hussein Khubair’s experience, symbolic abstraction is presented as a tool for thinking about transformation and life cycles, as elements and colors intersect in a visual structure open to interpretation. His work begins with the concept of the “Fifth Act” as a state that transcends linear time, and proposes transformation as a continuous act. Hussein Khubair is a Saudi visual artist from Tart Island. He is a member of many art groups and participates and exhibits nationally and internationally.
The experience ends with Fatima Hakumi working to deconstruct the formal structure of her artwork through abstract compositions based on movement, flow, and internal tension. Her exhibited works present a visual vision that deals with the duality of division and unification within contemporary visual discourse that goes beyond the immediacy of narrative. Fatima Hakami is a Saudi visual artist. Her presence in local and international exhibitions contributed to strengthening her experience in the path of contemporary art.
The “Between and Between” exhibition confirms that Saudi contemporary visual art is no longer concerned with recording memory, but seeks to deconstruct and reconstruct memory as a critical material open to contemplation and reconsideration of self, place, and transformation.
