ARTIST'S WORK SHOWS LIFE IN IRAQ BURBANK PAINTER'S ART TO BE FEATURED AT LOCAL GALLERY.Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer GLENDALE - In his painting ``Marriage Under Sanction sanction, in law and ethics, any inducement to individuals or groups to follow or refrain from following a particular course of conduct. All societies impose sanctions on their members in order to encourage approved behavior. ,'' artist Paul Batou finds sadness in a happy moment. ``Let us drink and drink,'' the words painted in Arabic say throughout the image of a bride and groom who are marrying during the 10-year United Nations sanctions in Iraq after the first Gulf War. ``With every drink, there will be an Iraqi who will die.'' A Burbank artist whose work goes on display today at a Glendale gallery, Batou has filled his paintings with images from his life in Iraq, one in which he served with an army medical unit during the Iran-Iraq war Iran-Iraq War, 1980–88, protracted military conflict between Iran and Iraq. It officially began on Sept. 22, 1980, with an Iraqi land and air invasion of western Iran, although Iraqi spokespersons maintained that Iran had been engaging in artillery attacks on . ``It was like a horror movie,'' said the soft-spoken, 44-year-old Batou who now earns his living as a pharmacist pharmacist /phar·ma·cist/ (fahr´mah-sist) one who is licensed to prepare and sell or dispense drugs and compounds, and to make up prescriptions. phar·ma·cist n. . ``It was so hard to go outside and collect bodies. That's what we did.'' The exhibit, ``From Baghdad to America,'' reflects much of Batou's thoughts of his homeland, which he left in 1989, from when Babylonians and Assyrians ruled the empires, to the appearance of Christianity and Islam The historical interaction between Christianity and Islam, in the field of comparative religion, connects fundamental ideas in Christianity with similar ones in Islam. Islam and Christianity share their origins in the Abrahamic tradition though Christianity predates Islam by six and the destruction left by wars, both ancient and contemporary. Of the 28 pieces on display, some are surrealist in style, others more abstract, and are painted in warm Southwestern tones and include American Indian American Indian or Native American or Amerindian or indigenous American Any member of the various aboriginal peoples of the Western Hemisphere, with the exception of the Eskimos (Inuit) and the Aleuts. images. Batou said that like the American Indians American Indians: see Americas, antiquity and prehistory of the; Natives, Middle American; Natives, North American; Natives, South American. , the native people of Iraq, such as the Assyrians, Chaldeans and Akkadians, lost their homeland. Modern Iraq also is in danger of losing its identity, he said. Gallery owner Aris Ajand calls Batou's work timely. ``What interested me the most was his influence of Babylonia and Native America,'' Ajand said. ``I haven't seen it done this way. It transcends politics. He shows that with all that has happened there, there is a bright light that shines through.'' Art inspired by the recent war in Iraq is slowly emerging in America, Ajand and other gallery owners said. In New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , a current exhibit titled ``Shock and Awe'' at the Puffin Gallery displays 78 drawings in crayon crayon, any drawing material available in stick form. The term includes charcoal, conte crayon, chalk, pastel, grease crayon, litho crayon, and children's wax colors. and pencil by Iraqi children ages 7 to 13. Images of American tanks; rainbows linking the Iraqi and American flags; and a bloody Tigris River Tigris River Arabic Dijlah Turkish Dicle biblical Hiddekel River, Turkey and Iraq. It originates in the Taurus Mountains at Lake Hazar and flows 1,180 mi (1,900 km) southeast through Turkey and past Baghdad to unite with the Euphrates River at show the complexity of children's feelings, said artist Nori Jung, assistant curator of the gallery. ``People have been shocked and awed at what they have seen,'' she said. ``People have never seen this in the media. Contemporary Iraqi art that will emerge will be based on the images in their minds now, of war, survival and peace.'' Currently a pharmacist in La Canada Flintridge, Batou worked on his paintings and poetry intensely for the past four years, he said. Today's showing is the first time the public will see his art. ``It's beautiful to be able to do this,'' he said. ``From Baghdad to America'' will open today at 6:30 p.m. at the Harvest Gallery, 938 N. Brand Blvd., and will run through Sunday. Pieces will be on sale, ranging from $400 to $1,500. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call (818) 546-1000. Susan Abram, (818) 546-3304 susan.abram(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) BATOU (2) Paul Batou's paintings, including this one, will go on display today in ``From Baghdad to America'' at Glendale's Harvest Gallery. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion