Opening: November 25, 2023
Venue: One Off Contemporary Gallery
Time: 3.30-6 PM
Exhibitions Run:
Saturday 25 November 2023 – 14 January 2024
Gallery open:
Tuesday through Saturday, from 10am – 5:00pm
Sunday, from noon – 5:00pm
About
Diab has painted migrants most of his career, though tragically, he recently found himself with first hand knowledge of being evacuated and becoming a refugee. He lost all his worldly possessions in the fighting which engulfed Khartoum. Now living in Madrid, Diab’s latest works have a new depth and context. In his own words; “…my main subject, it remains the delicate situation of women; a constant theme of mine for almost 20 years now. Women bearing the brunt of migration, navigating the infinite landscape of Sudan whilst the men kill each other. Husbands and sons are lost and the women must support the full responsibility of the future and the sustenance of their family. For me they are a symbol, an icon of our diversity, of our social variety and our unity. Their colourful and patterned aesthetical garments (toub), their curves and gestures, their stance when faced with the flat land, lost and in an insecure space. The explosion of violence always leaves our women more vulnerable to the most putrid and heinous acts’. These works carry a new poignancy, each figure portrayed with the body language of grief, not only for the subject to bear but also for the artist to use in expressing his own desolation. There is a tremendous sadness in many of these works, whilst they remain hauntingly beautiful .
The show, ‘Reflections of War: Agony of Displacement’ comprises a huge range of work Diab has produced since his evacuation, including black and white prints relating to the war, oil paintings of the more iconic Diab genre and Monotypes.