As a ten-year celebration of our inaugural exhibition with Ibrahim El-Salahi, Vigo Gallery presents Haraz.
Comprised of works from both El-Salahi's celebrated Tree series, many of which featured in his 2013 Tate Modern retrospective, and more recent Pain Relief works on paper and canvas, the exhibition reflects El-Salahi’s fascination with the Haraz tree, indigenous to Sudan, which has peculiar and inspirational characteristics.
'I am very much obsessed with my work. I am a painter and have no other profession. I go to bed dreaming of figures, forms, and colors and wake up to translate my visions and dreams into works of art. My style changes, but I keep working on one particular theme inspired by a tree, an acacia locally called the Harazthat grows on the banks of the Nile. During the rainy season the tree is leafless, and it blossoms with freshly budding green leaves when the weather turns dry and the river flows at its lowest towards the sea. Through all, the tree remains steadfast, silently watching over the passage of seasons and time.' Of the Haraz’s blooming he says; 'This is a definitive statement. Like saying ‘I am me! I am an individual! I do not follow what everyone is doing! When everyone is going to be green, let them be green. I am not!’ It’s individuality. I love that very much.' - Ibrahim El-Salahi, Reborn Sounds of Childhood Dreams, Tate Catalogue, 2013
This series is an ongoing investigation of the tree / body metaphor, a link between heaven and earth, creator and created; controlled meditations with the emphasis on the spiritual.
MoMA, Tate, Guggenheim, British Museum, National Museum of African Art Washington, and National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne and Newark Museum all hold El-Salahi’s work in their collections, he is undoubtedly one of the most important and influential figures in African and Arabic modernism.
For further information please contact info@vigogallery.com.
