Amjad Hashem
Chess player
Acrylic on canvas
160x140cm
2024
Through a process of deep self exploration Amjad Hashem discovered great value in the inevitability of change and transformation.
In his work he further explores these topics through figurative paintings, using the iconic figure of the mummy and its metaphorical meaning as a transformational ritual. Amjad uses ribbons as symbolic covering, showing how we are ‘wearing’ our identities, sometimes with pride, sometimes as a heavy burden, wearing us down. In Amjad’s works we can see how, during the process of adaptation during periods of change, they can gradually morph us into something completely different, sometimes resulting in not recognising ones ‘self’ or our context, any longer.
Amjad: ‘As humans, we are always trying to understand who we are, and sometimes we think we do, but do we really? When we experience events that change all perspectives, how does this affect our identity? How do we see the world around us when all values have changed?
My new series of paintings presents spontaneous scenes of surreal explorations of human identity.
We are the hero of our story, the gods of our own existence. How will our next step shape us?’
Amjad Hashem (1982) komt uit Syrië, in 2007 is hij afgestudeerd aan de universiteit van Damascus, aan de faculteit Beeldende Kunst.
In Damascus en Homs heeft hij verschillende tentoonstellingen gehad en was hij leraar tekenen en schilderen.
In 2014/15 is hij Syrië ontvlucht en woont nu in Amsterdam.
Ook hier heeft hij geregeld tentoonstellingen. In 2021 heeft het Dordrechts naar aanleiding van de Galatea tentoonstelling in Landhuis Oud Amelisweerd een schilderij van Amjad aangekocht dat in 2022 onderdeel uitmaakte van de Watamula tentoonstelling.