Dia al-Azzawi

On Thursday 1st May 2003, George W. Bush—accompanied by musical fanfare— walked across an aircraft carrier recently returned from the Gulf, surrounded by hundreds of active military personnel, to give...

Painted in Dia al-Azzawi’s recently established studio in Lebanon, set back from the water in a shady grove just next to Nabu Museum, which was opened in October 2018, these recent paintings exude a fresh vibrancy that may have sprung from the change of scenery— especially the change between London and the tranquil and picturesque northern Lebanese coastal town of Chekka, close to the city of Batroun.

Spanning over half a century, works by many of the most influential Modernists of the Arab-speaking world will be showcased in Meem Gallery's third edition of its Modern Masters exhibition series, this March.

Including Dia al-Azzawi, Ahmed Cherkaoui, Saliba Douaihy, Shakir Hassan Al Said, Mahmoud Said, Chafic Abboud, Faiq Hassan, Ibrahim Salahi, Ismail Fattah, Jewad Selim, Kadhim Hayder, Kamal Boullata, Mahmoud Sabri and Marwan, this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to view a collection of some of the best examples of 20th century Arab art.

This group of recent paintings by celebrated Iraqi artist, Dia Azzawi reflect his abiding fascination with his country's long and storied past. As a trained archaeologist who began his working life at the Iraqi Antiquities department in Baghdad, his references to Mesopotamian and Sumerian cultures reoccur throughout his oeuvre.

This January Meem Gallery celebrates the start of 2018 with a group exhibition of modernist Iraqi paintings. Including rare works by Faeq Hassan, Jewad Selim, Dia Azzawi, Ismail Fattah, Khadem Hayder and Shakir Hassan Al Said, the exhibition highlights these early masters and second generation pioneer artists, whose
careers continue to influence artists in Iraq and throughout the diaspora.

My Broken Dream has taken over two years to complete, and was made alongside Five Children Playing Football, currently on view as part of Azzawi’s retrospective at Al Riwaq and Mathaf, Qatar Museums; I Am the Cry, Who Will Give Voice to Me? As part of a series of black and white, large -­‐scale works, My Broken Dream acts as a manifesto of sorts; a reaction against and commentary upon the US invasion of Iraq.

Curated by the Centre Pompidou’s Deputy Director Catherine David, the exhibition was designed for two spaces, with two focuses that arise from a shared starting point. One side of the exhibition looks at Azzawi’s relationship with politics in Iraq and within the Arab World; whereas the second exhibition space considers the relationship between text and image throughout Azzawi’s oeuvre.

Works by Dia Azzawi, Kamal Boullata, Marwan, Mohammed Omar Khalil and the late Rafa Nasriri come together in Arab Print Vol II to celebrate the medium of printmaking. These artists,...

Meem Gallery will present a solo exhibition dedicated to the sculpture and tapestries of Iraqi modern art pioneer, Dia Azzawi. Renowned for his colourfully rendered paintings, in recent years Azzawi has explored the art of sculpture more actively. Drawing on the visual culture of Mesopotamia, the martyrdom of Hussein, Arabic literature and poetry, and contemporary political issues, Azzawi’s use of various media – painting, drawing, sculpture, dafatir (book art), and tapestry – can be linked thematically.

Meem Gallery is pleased to present an extensive collection of works, including paintings and mixed-media compositions, by modern and contemporary Iraqi artists. Modern Iraqi Art: A Collection takes viewers through the decades of Iraq's modern and contemporary art production.

Dia Azzawi's mural-sized painting, Elegy To My Trapped City (2011), was first exhibited by the gallery in November 2011, during Abu Dhabi Art. Comprised of haunting fragmented monochrome forms, the work represents the post-2003 destruction of Iraq. As one of the more politically inclined artists of his generation, Azzawi has since the 1970s created works which address the issue of human suffering as a result of political instability. His politically motivated works are often likened to Picasso's seminal painting Guernica (1937); however, the artist's exploration of themes of war and plight also differ from the Spanish artist in several ways: in the nature of the attack displayed, and the compositional arrangement of figures and forms. The display of Elegy follows the recent unveiling of the artist's work Sabra Shatila Massacre at the Tate Modern in London, a work based on the 1982 massacre of civilians in Beirut's Palestinian refugee camps during the Lebanese civil war. Elegy, which also pays homage to the Iraqi poet Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayati's (1926 – 1999) poem of the same title, was exhibited with five acrylic and China ink preparatory drawings by the artist.

Meem Gallery is pleased to present the conclusion show of the Art in Iraq Today exhibition series. The exhibition will include selected works by the artists displayed during Parts I-V of the series (held from October 2010 – May 2011).

This is the fourth part of the five-part exhibition series, Art in Iraq Today, displaying contemporary Iraqi art. Curated by Dia Azzawi, Part IV will exhibit the recent work of Dia Azzawi, Rafa Nasiri (both founders of the New Vision Group in 1969) and Ali Talib.

Meem Gallery celebrates the work of some of the Middle East's foremost modern artists in the Middle East Modern Masters exhibition. Showcasing the art of Ali Omar Ermes, Dia Azzawi,...

This exhibition, which displays Dia Azzawi's paintings and sculpture from 2007 to 2008 , is the first to bring the Iraqi modern art pioneer's recent work to Dubai. Following his...