Mohammed Sami

Born in Baghdad, Iraq, Mohammed Sami, 1984, is an artist based in Norrköping, Sweden since 2007 and who lived his early adult years in war-torn Iraq surrounded by tension and the horror of daily bombings and assassinations.

The marks of these deep traumas are apparent in his paintings since he carried all of his memories and hopes with him.

Sami's present paintings have elements inspired by the shape of symbols found in our everyday life –maps, torn bodies of animals and humans, or common paintings by other artists– and in doing so, he plays a multidisciplinary role in his new politics/paintings as a critic and using sarcasm and Graffiti protest spirit working on large size canvas and using acrylic as his preferred medium.

Sami did not find the right opportunity to develop his experience in Iraq during the shadow of war and the deterioration and hopeless situation of his native country.

In 2007, Sami became an immigrant and decided to make a drastic change moving from the hot and arid Iraq to the forward-thinking first world Scandinivian country of Sweden and since 2010, his paintings began to be exhibited throughout Europe in exhibitions at the Autumn Salon in Paris, Norrköping Art Museum, 2011; Gallery CUT UP in Germany, Rudd Claire Gallery in London, he awarded the 1st (Secret art Prize) Curious Duke Gallery/London 2014, He featured in Art Investment by Rebecca Wilson/ Saatchi Gallery 2014.

In the last three years, Sami's has solo exhibitions in, Dag Anderson gallery Norrkoping/Sweden 2012, Jamm Art Gallery/Kuwait 2013.

Mohammad Sami Who Fled War-Torn Iraq Has Makings Of Becoming A Brilliant Contemporary Master Artist .

Mohammad Sami is a painter of one discourse, and has all the chances of becoming its master. He performs visual dissections of violence, terror and death with precision and responsibility, creating monumental paintings to reflect on the fateful everyday realities of millions of people around the world.

Sami’s paintings bear within them crucial underlying themes, which the artist has been exploring since fleeing war-torn native Iraq: trauma, migration, broken geographies and ruptured identities. The choice to work within these themes was so powerful, so inescapable, that it became the linchpin of Sami’s work: he paints because he needs to tell these stories. They are the drive, flesh and purpose of his artistic career, as the painter sees it as his duty to share and translate the visions he has stored in his memory.

Tragic fragments make up Sami’s carefully constructed compositions, emerging precisely on the fine line between figurative and abstract, between explicit depictions of animal carcasses and blurry landscapes of desolation. We see animals that died violent deaths, flashes of explosions, and journeys that never happened. Transport infrastructure is always dysfunctional, reflecting on the physical and symbolic impossibility of escape: roads are cemeteries for animals; airport gates are closed, leaving luggage to accumulate beyond control; maps are rotten; and the weight of violence is too big a burden for the promise of a better elsewhere.

When painting scenes of horror, he does so with such finesse and rigor, that he must add explicitly violent content in order to keep his viewer discomforted. There is no mistaking what this work is about, and no convenience can be found in front of it. Colors are impressively sharp and vivid, but death is always looming behind them, adapted and tireless. The triumph of his painting lies in its being difficult and attractive at the same time, mentally unbearable and aesthetically uplifting. Mohammed Sami is so visually eloquent, that his work makes you cringe, humbles and exalts you at the same time.

Mohammed Sami is a painter with a mission like very few painters are, namely to give dignity back to his people by solemnly telling their story through art. He will not rest until he exorcises all the images that overwhelm his mind into grand canvas compositions, and the visual force that comes from such dedication is simply stunning. Looking back after many years, these will be most

valuable documents of the deeply problematic conflicts that continue to mark what the world looks like in the beginning of the 21st century. Sami’s work is bursting with potential.

Text by Sabina Andron, Director of London-based arts facilitation organization I Know What I Like http://www.iknowwhatilike.org/.

Extra Links

British art critic Julian Spalding! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R6A5wNrJ80

Mohammed Sami the winner of Secret Art Prize 2014! http://curiousdukegallery.com/blog/227-winner-of-secret-art-prize-announced

Mohammad Sami Who Fled War-Torn Iraq Has Makings Of Becoming A Brilliant Contemporary Master Artist – Highlight Hollywood Special Art Feature!

http://highlighthollywood.com/2014/09/mohammad-sami-who-fled-war-torn-iraq-has-makings-of- becoming-a-brilliant-contemporary-master-artist-highlight-hollywood-special-art-feature/