Fall of Europe II

35-year-old emerging painter Tarek Sebastian Al-shammaa’s debut solo show, 'Fall of Europe II', will be on view for just three days at Gallery DIFFERENT in Fitzrovia (20 – 22 May, 2017) with a private view on Friday 19th May from 6:30-9:30pm.

Al-shammaa was born and raised in London, dropped out of art school and frequently travels the world working as a private chef in order to support his art practice.

The artist was teasingly nicknamed ‘granddad’ at art school, choosing to focus on painting when YBA shock art was all the rage. His main practice is history painting in which he explores imposing historical and mythological subject matter, juxtaposing it with the harsh realities of our contemporary society.

Within each of the epic paintings, he presents the viewer with poignant psychological insight into his own life and heritage; Al-shammaa is half French and half Iraqi, and so has found himself straddling two oft-opposing cultures throughout his life.

Recurring themes across the young artist’s striking paintings include consumerism, war, love, lust and political oppression, as well as the opposition and even conflict of Western and Non-Western culture and ideals. In the body of work on view, Al-shammaa depicts everything from iconic myths like that of the Tower of Babel to mythical iconography such as Mother Earth, all within a raw, present-day context.