GENESIS

 

When The Sky Above Was Not Named

e-nu-ma e-liš la na-bu-ú šá-ma-mu

 As an American artist who is a fan of the Land of Eden, the cradle of civilization, also known as ancient Mesopotamia. I found, since my youth the mythology of Enūma Eliš   (when on high/ when the sky above) aka by scholars as The Seven Tablets of Creation, an inspiring theme that could be envisioned through my artwork, especially my latest style, Logogramisim.

 Enūma Eliš or the Babylonian Genesis was an inspiring foundation for the Hebrew scribes. Enūma Eliš also confirms the accuracy of the biblical Book of Genesis. Thus, the 2022 artwork Genesis is derived from the Hebrew biblical genesis and the Babylonian myth known as Enūma Eliš. The artwork is made of a four-piece painting that depicts through the Logogramis style the first Tablet of Creation, which I created it using my unique technique of mixed media on canvas. The assembling of the Genesis artwork also expresses Babylon's Cosmology perception.

However, the four-part artwork is all about art and the way I interpret the biblical and Mesopotamian subjects into art. The assembled tower of the four-part work reflects the structure of the Great Ziggurat of Ur, where Abraham the father of the Hebrew nation, lived before being called to the promised land.

The first three layers, from bottom to top, represent Earth (Ki), Water (Abzu), and Air (Enlil). while the top part represents Heaven (Anu). Dealing with four different environments requires implicating diverse compositions, that affect the way the subject is perceived and understood. This work also requires a main mono-color perspective with additional colored strokes, that take into consideration the hue, value, and intensity of the colors as well as various textures, which give the desired impression of a smooth or rough surface.

 Subject: Genesis

Technique: Acrylic & Oil colors on Canvas, with mixed media and additional materials

Measurements: 12 x 16 each plus 6 Inches of space (Installation is required)

Date: 2022

Price: $22,000

Good Morning Me!

 Every Morning Is A Gift!

Every day is a gift and that is a simple fact. On the brightest or even on most rainy days, the genuine smiles of those to whom you are attached make the day!

Morning is the most important time of the day because how you spend your mornings predicts how you will spend the rest of the day. When you start your day with a positive mindset, of course, your day will most likely be successful. When it comes to choosing between starting my day with a beautiful, but toxic woman, and starting my day alone with a positive feeling, I will definitely choose greetings and cheering myself alone in the morning!

            Having love is essential, but how could you love others if you do not love yourself? Good Morning Me! is an open book to my soul that shows my inner side belief: Love and Let Love.

When it comes to the common practice that ties my work (poems & paintings), I usually write the poem and leave it to time to reshape it as an artwork. This might take weeks, months, or sometimes years to create the visual work, whether as a painting or sculpture. Sometimes it will never happen. It is a 50-50 chance!

            Good Morning Me! is one of a few exceptional artworks that were created first as a painting (in 2006) and then later (in 2009) it hit me as a poem when I was stationed overseas.

The nicely executed style I used in Good Morning Me! successfully reflects my feelings and experience on canvas. What makes this artwork so powerful is the mix of oil and acrylic colors on some areas of the canvas, as well as the freedom to add layers of different elements. It is also a mix between the geometric abstract background and the freehand implementation of the pictograph symbols. This kind of play with both geometric shapes and freehand strokes of the heavy and light brushes and other carving tools creates a captivating texture that gives the audience a challenging view of a diverse impression of unlimited beauty, tenderness, and calculated surface to work with. Although a tough process, it is fun and quite enchanting.

Subject: Good Morning Me
Technique: Acrylic on Canvas
Measurements: 36 x 36 Inches
Date: 2006
Price: $30,000 

No More Paradise!

 

GIFTS Vs. CURSES IN THE LAND OF EDEN

             Since man has walked the Earth, the Land of Eden was the source of almost all of humanity's gifts. However, greed and envy showered this blessed land with all kinds of evil and suffering. It would seem as if this holy land is cursed!

I cannot understand how it could wars and misery take place in this ancient land that painted for the entire world the blueprint of civilization!

How it could the beauty of knowledge be in the same pot with the ugliness of violations against the basic foundations of human rights?

           Watching what the forces of evil are doing to ruin the land of Eden, especially within the more recent decades, is giving me endless heartache. It seems that the imaginary powers of the mythical deities Enki and Enlil are pointlessly struggling since the great flood of Utnapishtim^[1] until now. It also seems that we, the artists, have to put an end to this chaos!

            The technique used in achieving this artwork is a mix of oil, woodcut, and mixed media, while the pictograph signs Kur (displacement & hell) and Mash (intersection) were backed with two deities' pictorial symbols (Ea and Enlil). The background composition is also derived from a Logogramic sign that symbolizes Kish (the land or universe). 

Subject: No More Paradise

Technique: Oil, Woodcut & Mixed-Media

Measurements: 50 x 50 Cm | 19.68 x 19.68 Inches

Date: 1994

Price: $20,000

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[1] Utnapishtim is the Babylonian Noah, who was instructed by the god Ea/Enki to save humanity and all the world's specie from the great flood forced on Eart by the god Enlil. This mythical event was part of the Epic of Gilgamesh, regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature. 

Acknowledgment - Prof. Roy Gessford

 A man's friendships are one of the best measures of his worth.  ~ Charles Darwin

 I am deeply indebted to Prof. Roy Gessford from  www.letinthelightpublishing.com for his continuous and tireless efforts in proofreading and editing most of the Blog's articles. This endeavor would not have been possible without his sincere commitment to making the published articles on this Blog easily readable and more understandable by various art lovers and interested readers. Brother Roy, words cannot express my gratitude.

Amer Hanna Fatuhi

PS. The photo was taken at atelier a on October 15, 2022.

September Rain

 

Only September Rain Can Turn Us All Into Lovers! 

The artwork September Rain represents a profound feeling and the inspiration for September Rain was derived from a combination of one of my old poems that I wrote in my youth and September Blue, a song written and sung by one of my favorite singers, Chris Rea. The painting depicts the artist’s inner feelings, which projects him being in the middle of heavy rain of interested women but the one he cares for most is not around.

The entire surface of the canvas is filled with one single Logogramic sign that symbolizes the word female in the Pictographic writing system from the Land of Eden (ancient Mesopotamia).

This symbol sal/MI (female) is repeated in many sizes, shapes, colors, and textures to fill the entire canvas, which represents the artist's world. One can notice that, despite filling the entire surface, something is missing - and that is what makes this painting so alive, dynamic and so powerful.

September Rain is about true love that can move mountains and cross the seven seas with just one longing thought or one tender look from the one you love!

Subject: September Rain

Technique: Acrylic on Canvas

Measurements: 36 x 36 Inches

Date: 2022

Price: $30,000