Prelude

This type of art represents the early works of the late Abdullatif Al Smoudi, which includes various concepts that he received during his studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus in the early seventies. It also marked the start of his inclination towards fine arts and collage compositions and the search for personal characteristics to identify his art style. The topics range from drawing nature and portraiture, and some elements that interact with the visual vocabulary which was inspired by his local environment, using various techniques, ranging from drawing by inks, pencils and oil colors, as well as his first attempts at collage.

Beginnings

The experience of AI Smoudi, since its beginnings, was combined with the obsession of searching for visual vocabularies that cared his Eastern identity, after graduating from the Faculty of Arts in 1975, he began exploring into the legacy of Islamic aesthetics, with its ancient artistic achievement and richness that is vast. It went beyond that and searched local Syrian art also, with Syria being a cultural cross world between the East and West, and a cradle of the oldest religions and most important civilizations known to mankind through the ages. Al Smoudi had realized through his creative nature and his emotional depth, an importance of discovering and being inspired by these civilizations. He expressed it with a contemporary aesthetic formation, which placed his artistic work in the ranks of senior Arab artists. Since then, he was able to draw the attention of the critic’s and those interested in his artistic experience.

Symbols & Patterns

Al Smoudi’s clearly represents in this type of art his vast knowledge in various cultures and civilizations, he used his wide visual vocabulary to beautifully put together this part of his collection. With the growth of Al Smoudi’s experience, his knowledge and expertise deepened, as a result widening his visual vocabulary that was employed in art work with a large knowingly and Sufi adore. From here his works clinch various symbols and signs of the primitive man and various drawings and inscriptions that were left on walls of caves, mixing by that the symbols of the Arabic and Islamic art in all its connotations, with other works of oriental carpets and the ceramic utensils.

Humanistic Creations

The human element which Al Smoudi dealt with in his works, does not separate from the language and icons and other colorful motives which were portrayed in his works in a delightful rhythm. The painting for him resembled a piece of music which is full of life and flows quietly and harmoniously together. From here we see signs of his ability to incorporate human forms with aesthetic elements, which emphasize on the richness of his artistic experience and his ability to construct a coherent work of art holding all the contemporary artistic values, which confirmed his determination in the development of his expressive tools, and his inclination towards new compositions.

Landscapes

Life with all its richness, breadth and diversity was the visual material of Al Smoudi, and his spiritual eye which he stared through until his last blink. His work is a kind of meditation of the land and natural scenes and fluctuations of seasons. Lots of his works mimic the nature borrowing poetical names which express Al Smoudi’s fascination with manifestations of life. For example: Language of Nature, Sound of Water, Eclipse, and many other works that show that Al Smoudi did not stop for o moment of meditation in this beauty which he was absorbing and reflecting through his creative work. Perhaps this collection dearly indicates Al Smoudi’s ability to humanize the natural scenery and transfer a sentimental pulse to everything that surrounds him.

Eastern Rhythms

This is the closing chapter of Al Smoudi’s artistic journey. In this type of art, he used all the skills he has developed throughout his career. AI Smoudi used in this collection writings, symbols and characters using collage, inks and colors on paper and canvas. It is inspired from pages of the Scriptures and the ancient panels in a Reprographics contemporary sense. He presented them in a way that reflects his delicate sensibility in the distribution of elements, its contiguity and range was studied very carefully. Most of the works in this collection are presented as an open book, as it is symbolizing his life as a legislator book that could not be closed, even far after he left.

Lasting Impressions