Wael Darweish: Ambivalent Self

Blue Rhino Art Consultancy presents Wael Darweish: Ambivalent Self, a solo online exhibition of the Egyptian artist Wael Darweish. This exhibition will showcase 25 artworks of the artist’s most recent creations, exploring themes of humanity and society with mixed media consisting of acrylic, oil pastel and gold leaf on canvas. This exhibition will present the very first online exhibition organised by Blue Rhino Art Consultancy.

This visual experience attempts to explore consequences of experiencing long periods of continuous change, inconsistencies, anticipation and suppressed actions. Wael Darweish’s foggy scenes and excessive social ambiguity disconnect us from the truth, becoming a burden on our mentality. Our relationship with all that surrounds us and the inability to predict the future, along with the emergence of various predictions has led to many changes that affect us both internally and externally. Perhaps our ability is not the secret key to unlock the mystery of conflict within ourselves but to solve mystery itself.

Darweish concerns himself with the ever changing dynamic of humans and society. Utilizing expressive colours, lines, and shapes, he presents his subject matter as an embodiment of humanitarian expression of freedom. With ambiguous figures, Darweish’s surrealist paintings explore the barriers that exist between the human body and its surrounding environment. It aims to offer a contemporary language to understand today’s world by blurring the lines between reality and imagination.

Darweish works with mixed media to create sculptural forms that transcend regular two-dimensionality, through which he studies and experiments with his use of collage: merging colour, calligraphy, textiles, and various textural media. His recent painting projects have been inspired by movements such as French lyrical abstraction and American colour field paintings, where large ‘fields’ of flat solid colour harmoniously colonise large areas of the canvas to create a homogenous surface of flat planes. In these works, Darweish places an emphasis on the overall consistency of form over brush movement and brushstrokes. He is successful in combining two opposing abstract styles with elements of figuration and cognitive representation. Darweish’s fundamental aim is to push the limits of ordinary painting by exploring what photography can add to the canvas - frozen reality and depth of field.

Art Curator: Tima Jam

Assistant Coordinator:
Ahwa Habeeb
Daniel Jim A. Opolot
Eleanor Williams
Priscilla Indrayadi
Anais Goorriah

Artist: Wael Darweish