A Visit to a Universe!

 

A Visit to a Universe!

The Many Corners of Beauty

 An open field, a wide sea, and a high sky make me feel like I am part of a universe, but my personal space where I can breathe beauty is my true universe!

Leonardo da Vinci once stated, “An artist's studio should be a small space because small rooms discipline the mind and large ones distract it”. Therefore, I love being in my small studio because it is the perfect space for inspiration and creation.

Welcome to atelier a, where my art gives me joy and promotes a positive mood. In my private studio where I am capable of reshaping both my inside and outside worlds through art, I am the lord of my destiny.

However, I am not here to fix the world but to enjoy it while diving away from the daily discomfort into calm music and radiant, saturated colors.

Although my studio looks like a war zone, I love my studio like a bird loves her own nest.

 www.AmerFatuhiArt.com

PS. In the hallway between the main door and my studio, you can enjoy some of the artworks that I created before the Logogramism period.

 

Bull & Female

The Ultimate Beauty of Neutral Colors in Logogramism!

 Bull & Female

             Bull & Female is a mono-color (Neutral Color) artwork made by using two techniques: light carving and scraping followed by immediate layers of mixed media instead of using acid into a metal plate as in lithography. The entire artwork is executed freely with high-speed scraping and immediate filling of the scraped area with ink and other media.

 The idea behind this one-of-a-kind artwork is that life required passionate lovers (male & female). Those who are familiar with the pictograph symbols could figure out that I have mixed both ancient symbols to create a new image that has both meanings, i.e., a bull and a female in one symbol that could be easily read as a bull as well as a female. However, this piece is not an inscription but rather an art.

 In art, you create a more artistic new world from old traditional ones by implanting an expression of skill or imagination on canvas or 3D media. Art is all about appreciating beauty and innovation, but more importantly, eliciting emotional communication, to evolve and move humanity toward a better and peaceful future.

 

Subject: Bull & Female

Technique: Light Carving with Mixed Media

Measurements: 16.25 x 11.25

Date: 1992

Price: $20,000

 

 

The Ace of Spades

The Ace of Spades

The Ongoing Circle of Joy & Pain

 

The ace of spades is traditionally the highest and most valued card in the deck of playing cards in English-speaking countries. However, in the French fortune-telling tradition, an ace of spades indicates bad luck or death in one's future. This superstition eventually led to the ace of spades being known as the "death card."

Between being the most significant element in life and the reason behind personal end is quite chaotic. It is simply like love that one moment makes one feel lighter than a feather, walking in joy on the clouds, and in another sad and blue beyond words, to a level that you can not move your feet, and when you breathe you feel an ultimate pain in each breath!

The central piece of my two-part artwork Ace of Spades. shows a bird made of five pictograph symbols: a man and a bird trying to fly away, while an arrow wedge-shaped head symbolizes a female going through the bird’s heart.

 The bird is also surrounded by three pictograph symbols: the three mountains represent alienation, a dark crescent with lines of rays representing the night, darkness, and hardship, while beneath the bird is flowing water that represents hope.

             The technique is quite captivating because it mixes the visual texture made of layers of ocher oil color on top of many fast strokes made by many acrylic colors mixed with freehand touches made by drawing tools and a litho round etching needle.

 The central piece is placed inside a shape made out of strips of fabric that are crossed intricately together to symbolize home in pictograph symbols. The home which represents a comfort zone is located inside the main frame in ocher, representing the land (earth). The home also contains troubling forms, i.e, snakes and other ambiguous shapes that give the viewer the sense of instability.

     This artwork represents the endless struggle between life and death, love and depart, and joy and pain!

 

Subject: The Ace of Spades

Technique: Acrylic on Canvas, Stretcher Bars, & Burlap Ribbons

Measurements: 36 x 24 & 9 x 12 Inches (Need to be installed)

Date: 2006

Price: $20,000

 

Soul Siege

 

The Salvation of All Souls!

 Soul Siege … Art Matters

 Logogramism Art Style as an Advocate for Peace!

    This is the third piece of a three-part artwork that was displayed at the 1992 two-man art show Siege took place at the Museum of Modern Art. The triangular structure and composition that represents the pictograph symbol Ninda (food), contains three main visual elements. The central triangle was made out of mixing rough sawdust and sand. The three sides depict the three primary colors and the pictograph symbol of a bird (Khu). The central images are surrounded by dark cosmos made of soft sawdust. The broken triangle symbolizes the continuous attempts to distance spirituality from life while the bird represents the holy spirit that has been somewhat alienated from our current materialistic reality.

    This artwork expresses that not only cities could be besieged but also our souls, which are our last fortress of solitude (privacy). This artwork is once again another depiction of the artist’s condemnation of war and cruel brutality against innocent civilians worldwide. Aside from politics, art in many ways is like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which asserts various rights for all people, but through caring and sharing beauty! Thus, art matters.

 

Soul Siege 1992

Acrylic, Sawdust, and Sand on Canvas 

Measurements: 39.4 x 31.5 Inches | 80 x 100 Cm

Shavie’ Private Collection1992

 

The Date Palm Uprising

 

Life Wins … Standing Tall!

 Date-palm Tree as the Symbols of Heroism!

Heroes don't always wear capes, badges, or uniforms. Most of the time, heroes are everyday normal people!

People may have heard of Che Guevara. Also, most of us have read about Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Spanish poet, Federico García Lorca. However, how many of you know about over one thousand young freedom fighters who paid the ultimate price defending freedom, democracy, and hoping for a better world?

     Recently, in Iraq, during one of my humanitarian missions, I was watching the news during lunchtime at a dining facility not that far from the blood-shaded streets of Baghdad. I felt so helpless compared to the courageous kids and young men who were facing a rain of bullets and smoke grenade launchers with their bare chests and uncovered heads by one of the worst brutal sectarian regimes in the world. Without even thinking, my hand reached out to my ballpoint pen to draw my feelings on the cover of my foam take-out container. As a human being, I felt so helpless; but as an artist, I did what I am best at, painting the moment. Some thought the uprising would be over eventually, but the outcome art of the uprising is going to last for years to come. It is almost immortal.

The Logogramism art style played a big role in depicting that tragic and heroic scene artistically. I decided to use the date-palm tree, an ancient as well as modern Iraqi symbol of life, to be the main visual element of my artwork. I also decided to use the pictograph symbol of the date-palm tree to express my strong feelings on the available media at the moment (foam container).

    In that date-palm uprising, those immortal heroes, mostly with baby faces, were in my eyes as brave as Gilgamesh^[1],  the legendary Mesopotamian hero, and as tall as the tallest Babylonian date-palm tree. Since then, I believe that heroes don't always wear capes!

 

Subject: The Date Palm Uprising

Technique: Ink on Foam-surface

Measurements: 7 x 9 Inches

Date: 2019

Price: Annie Salatyan’s Private Collection

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[1] Gilgamesh was the first hero in ancient Mesopotamia and worldwide mythologies. He is the protagonist of the Epic of Gilgamesh and the first superhero who stood up to cosmic evil forces to help humanity.

City Under Siege | The Doomsday

 

City Under Siege

    This is one of a three-part artwork that was displayed at the 1992 two-man art show Siege. The composition contains three main visual elements: the pictograph symbol of a city, a pictograph symbol of the moon, and a reshaped symbol of a foot that was repeated in different sizes and colors.

     The siege tells a story similar to Picasso’s 1937 artwork, Guernica. The displayed city is surrounded by a pitch-black sky with a silver crescent that illuminates the city with rays of unpleasant light in the shape of missiles. Inside the city are the repeated shapes of feet in different sizes and colors. The feet show that the besieged people do not know where to go in chaos. It is an artistic depiction of a war crime that cannot be justified. 

Subject: City Under Siege | Three-part-artwork #1

Technique: Acrylic, Sand & Mixed Media on Plywood

Measurements: 100 x 100 Cm | 39.3 x 39.3 Inches

Date: 1992

Price: Private collection

Sumerian Charms … Art Matters

 An Outstanding Artwork Portraying the Logoigranism Art Style

Sumerian Charms … Art Matters

The Significance of Logogramism Art Style

Charms against evil spirits, good luck, love, attraction, and other influences were quite common in ancient Mesopotamia. It can seem nothing has changed. We are living in a dangerous world, fraught with war, poverty, illiteracy, and hunger. However, humanity will survive. Art was, and still is, one of the most healing tools. Art can secure peace, comfort, and relief in critical times.

 Many would say when asked that they are not superstitions; yet, they knock on wood, pour water behind deployed soldiers, or cross their fingers to wish good luck!

 In 1994, I used Mesopotamian deities' symbols and signs derived from the pictograph writing system to create my artwork entitled Sumerian Charms. The main symbols represent god Marduk and god Sin, besides Elu or DINGER, which mean heaven, star, and the symbol that has to be put before the deities' names.

The technique used in making this artwork, which I created in 1988, is a unique combination of the Hot Print process and mixed media. The texture gives the impression of many layers, when in fact, this technique is just the way I love to perform when playing with sharp colors and mixed media. Sumerian Charms proves that people throughout history are similar when it comes to their needs and emotions!

 

Subject: Sumerian Charm

Technique: M/P with Mixed-Media

Measurements: 10 x 15 Inches

Date: 1994

Price: $15,000 

The Temple of Sorrow | Thriving Through Love!

THE TEMPLE OF SORROW, An Ekphrastic Poem

Fighting Hate with Love! 

This piece is very near and dear to my heart even though it is a separated pitch black surface attached with strings to a red frame to depict a bloody frontier surrounding a dark scene!

The technique is quite simple but also requires a deep study of the Mesopotamian writing technique. Thus, in this artwork, I just followed the footsteps structure used in the ancient Pictograph and Cuneiform tablets by dividing the canvas into squares and rectangular shapes. This model helps in focusing on the visual elements and allows each section to easily and visually communicate with the viewer. Most of the elements in these sections were done by using the color directly from different sizes of tubes. In addition, to make the texture more appealing, I added multimedia: pieces of fabric, nets made out of threads, and acrylic texture gels or gel mediums. 

Concerning the visual elements, I used many compelling pictograph signs such as male and female, mountains, plants, trees, scorpions and snakes, mortar and pestle, water, land, and more. Each of these visual elements is derived from the poem The Temple of Sorrow which expresses my unfortunate experience when I was detained and tortured in Section 5, one of the most inhumane torture centers in the world. However, this piece is not about torture but about how to stand up against evil forces, knowing deep in your heart that despite their vicious actions and monstrosity, they are scared to the bone because their core is as frail as the stuffed animals made out of wool and cotton!

In my mind and my artworks, these dark forces are like a scarecrow that can scare all the birds some of the time and some of the birds all the time, but it cannot scare all the birds all the time. In the end, we can win by facing hate with love!

 An excerpt from the poem: 

He is certainly capable

The one who dispels all of our joys

And transforming our pleasures into ashes

He is capable

The one who plodding drunk

Like a bull who is ravaged by sexual intercourse

Proud of his large, sharp horn

his sawing teeth

and his mind, which is made fun of

by the smallest ant!

This disaster shows up every day from a hole in the wall

From a pit in the ground

From a black cloud

On the television

Before the news bulletin

After the news bulletin

In the news bulletin

With his yellowish laugh

And his rusted, coppery voice

Surrounded by a flock of fierce werewolf people

Proud of his olive military uniform

The decorations and Medals that indicate

A history of blood ... Our blood

and our beloveds. 

To read the full poem click the following link http://www.amerfatuhiart.com/Gallery.html

 

Subject: The Temple of Sorrow

Technique: Mixed-Media on Stretcher Bars & Canvas-board

Measurements: 30 x 30 Inches

Date: 2008

Price: $25,000

 

Soldiers of My Dreams!

 

From the Battlefront to Canvas, a First-Hand Experience!

Soldiers of My Dreams!

The Ongoing Logogramism Style of Life Vs. Chaos

Soldier of Love, that is what I really am!

Despite being a dreamer since childhood, my destiny took me elsewhere when I grew up, dividing my time between my studio and my time as an army soldier, where I partook in many harsh wars. During my army career, I was injured many times and I experienced all kinds of ground combat but what stuck deep in my heart and cracked my soul was something else. It was a worrisome scene that I might never forget!

I once had to walk more than ten miles in a total pitch black desert at 3:00 am without any ammo. That road to hell was located between my destroyed shelter close to the ancient ruins of Ur and the closest city on the Euphrates. What worsened the situation was the heavy smoke from the countless burning oil wells and acidic rain that made it extremely difficult to figure out my directions. However, the paved highway that was once surrounded by hundreds of military trenches helped me to cautiously walk through the ghostly shapes of many packs of starved wild dogs, wolves, and other creatures of the night who were busy consuming the carcasses of the dead soldiers laying down on both sides of the road. They were most likely killed by thermobaric bombs a day or two earlier! 

These horrible dark shapes of the beasts and the frightening and intimidating sounds of the animals in the night fighting over the carcasses of dead soldiers haunted me for years. This was true even after I finished my training in Fort Sill, OK as part of the USF-I and was once again stationed in that country twenty years later. During all my army time, I have never forgotten that tragic scene. What helped me almost heal is the series of many miniature artworks Soldiers of My Dreams that I started in 1991. I have also done other paintings on canvas that included themes and details from that long night!

Although I will not hesitate to take a bullet when it comes to defending freedom and my home, I have never considered myself a warrior for a moment, but rather a lover who dislikes war and appreciates peace and love! 

The composition of this captivating artwork Soldiers of My Dream is very simple; it contains three main visual elements derived from the ancient Mesopotamian pictograph writing system (i.e. males laying dead inside the mortar and pestle). The two triangles on the top sides of the Pestle are symbols for the word "meal", pronounced NINDA in Sumerian and akalu in Akkadian. The dead soldiers who are depicted laying down inside the mortar are the crushed food or the fuel of the war!

The technique is also quite unique because it mixes the Hot-mono-print technique, which I created in 1988, and a variety of mixed media on a small surface!

My portrait on the right side of the image recalls the time when I had that awful experience.

 

Artist: Amer Hanna Fatuhi

Artwork Title & Artist: Soldiers of My Dreams

Technique: Mixed-media

Measurements: 10 x 10 Cm | 3.93 x 3.93 Inches

Date & Price: 1991 | $5,000

An artwork in my own thoughts!

 

An Angel and Princesses

The Ongoing Logogramism of Love & Life Style

“Art is an expression of our thoughts, emotions, intuitions, and desires, but it is even more personal than that: it's about sharing the way we experience the world, which for many is an extension of the personality. It is the communication of intimate concepts that cannot be faithfully portrayed by words alone.” ^[1] 

Since childhood, I have never dreamed of being a king or a prince even though I am a descendent of the lineage of the greatest king who ruled Earth ^[2] . My desire since I was a young boy in the third grade ^[3]  was to become a painter like Van Gogh.

Because I was also an energetic child, my other wish was to be like Batman and fight evil. I never dreamed of supremacy or leadership, but I always tried to imitate the angels who fight evil on the battlefront. I would have preferred to be a soldier (warrior) whose face is covered with dust and mud and his body is covered with blood and uncountable wounds. One of my role models was the Archangel Michael who is always fighting the army of demons and was the greatest warrior in the battle of good versus evil. A prince who lives a luxurious life followed by a crowd of other secondary princes and royalties was never one of my desires. Where is the pleasure in a life of luxury? 

The real pleasure is in the art that opens uncharted worlds to me that no one has seen before or set a foot in it. On the other hand, fighting and dying to protect others whether a beloved woman or a vulnerable individual was one of my favorite dreams.

Now, after such a long journey in life, I have discovered that I am still a six-year-old child who did not grow one day older, and my dreams are still the same - an angel around whom a horde of princes revolve in a world of paintings and colors that no one has ever explored.

The details of the painting An Angel & Princes are derived from the ancient Mesopotamian Pictograph Writing System executed through my one-of-a-kind style (Logogramism) and unique mixed-media. 

Artist: Amer Hanna Fatuhi

Artwork Title & Artist: An Angel and Princes

Technique: Mixed-media

Measurements: 20 x 20 | 7.87 x  7.87 Inches

Date & Price: 1991 | $7,500

 

 

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[1] https://philosophynow.org/issues/108/What_is_Art_and_or_What_is_Beauty

[2] Nebuchadnezzar

[3] I won the Painting Prize for elementary schools, which among the prizes was a book about the art of painting and painters

 

HOME ... The art that will be!

 

 

HOMELAND of LIFE

 

A homeland is not a specific map or land. It is also not the natives' deep and rich history, but all of that watered and salted with our forefather's sacrifices and achievements. ~ Amer Hanna Fatuhi

There is no doubt that no land on the face of the Earth could be compared to Mesopotamia, biblically known as the Land of Eden, simply because it is the Land of Firsts!

All of the old civilizations learned and borrowed from Mesopotamian knowledge and way of life in one way or another. Likewise, all of the known secondary colors originated from the primary colors: blue, yellow, and red.

It is no secret that I am quite fascinated with originality, therefore, the artwork HOME somewhat blurs the traditional red lines between paintings and sculptures. Using natural elements (wood and thread) to create a 3D painting, which could also be called a colorful sculpture, goes back to the cradle of civilization's ancient technique. It is considered a combination of using easy-abstain artwork that uses simple methods to depict a complicated idea.

The foundation of the artwork HOME is derived from the most ancient writing system known as the Pictograph (c. eighth millennium BC). This aesthetically pleasing 3D hanged artwork effortlessly gives the viewer a sense of beauty and is easily enjoyable due to the use of the distinct primary colors: red, yellow, and blue.  

The entire artwork was developed from one Logogram symbol referring to Home and pronounced as Ki/Bit in the Sumero-Akkadian culture. It is like love; you do not need to talk for hours to express your love to your beloved. Instead, all it requires is sincere, deep eye contact!

Amer Hanna Fatuhi, the founder of the LOGOGRAMISM Style

www.AmerFatuhiArt.com  

Title: Home

Technique: Acrylic on Wood round dowels & Threads

Measurements: 48x40 Inches

Year: 2012

Price: amerfatuhi@aol.com 

 

Away from Paradise

 

Away From Paradise, the Bleeding Soul!

Although most art critics and art historians consider the woodcut as the oldest form of printmaking, the truth is that thousands of years earlier, the carved Mesopotamian flat and the cylinder seals that were pressed or rolled on clay to make copies are considered the oldest known printmaking techniques.

I tried that technique when I was studying at the Cuneiform Laboratory at the History Museum at the beginning of my 20s. However, using woodcut techniques and mixed media suits the art market's demands and is more appreciated by modern art lovers.

 Woodcut printmaking also involves carving an image from the surface of a block of wood, rolling ink onto it, and taking an impression or print. However, this is not the case when I carve any piece of wood to transfer my thoughts and feelings onto the wood, because, with more colors on a flat surface as well as the carved areas, I am capable of using the wood base not only to make an impression but as the final artwork. 

In the 1993 woodcut piece and its impression, I used three logograms (Moon, City, and Foot) with contrasting colors of Red and Green to express the exile of a poet from his homeland (Paradise).

 This piece is considered among the very first pieces when I started using Logogramism in 1988 as the centerpiece of the work (as a subject and composition) in my artworks. In reality, it is not just an artwork but an important part of my bleeding soul.

www.AmerFatuhiArt.com

  

Title: Away from Paradise

Technique: Woodcut & Mixed media

Measurements: 16.5x316.5 cm | 6.5x6.5 Inches

Year: 1993

Price: $ 7,500