London’s P21 Gallery to exhibit work of Jordanian artist

AMMAN — The paintings of Jordanian artist Othman Ahmad Shihab will be exhibited later this year at P21 Gallery in London under the patronage of Arts Council England.

Shihab, 35, left his job as a civil engineer to become a full-time artist and in 2015, he founded the Lailak Art Institute in Jordan where he currently teaches. 

Over the past 15 years, he has participated in exhibitions in Sweden, India, the UAE, the UK, Oman and Egypt.

His upcoming exhibition in London is titled “The Puppets”.

“It portrays how people can be besieged by wrongful conventions or negative social habits that guide their lives, turning them into puppets under the control of other people or powers instead of their own free will,” he told The Jordan Times in a recent interview. 

The exhibition also sheds lights on various social issues, including gender-based violence, reproductive health, mental illness and “lost childhoods”, according to Shihab.

It will include a number of contemporary mixed-media paintings, featuring “tragic and dramatic” scenes that aim to engage viewers through “visual shock”, he said. 

“The goal is to help viewers experience the message each painting is attempting to deliver and inspire them to become aware of and break free from any strings holding them under their power,” he continued. 

Shihab belies that art should not just be “viewed and admired”, but should deliver a message and create change. 

He noted that most actions begin with an idea that gradually grows inside one’s head until, at some point, it gets “too big to be contained”, and that’s when one must find a way to let it out and express it. 

“For me, the best way to do that is art, which I believe is a defence against aggression and violence… Using a brush and some colours, instead of weapons or loud speeches, one can make a strong and lasting positive impact,” he said. 

When Shihab came up with the idea for the exhibition, he wrote it down then asked for the help of some of his actor friends, who created scenes playing the roles of various puppet characters, which he used for inspiration to create his paintings. 

“A painting goes through multiple stages while it is being created. Although the viewer sees and enjoys the final result, there’s a certain pleasure in each one of these stages that is only felt by the artist himself,” Shihab noted. 

He also pointed out that music has played a “pivotal” role throughout his creative process. 

“Compositions in my opinion are like invisible paintings… sometimes it feels like my brush strokes are guided by the rhythm of the music I listen to while painting,” he said. 

Shihab added that his friend, Yousef Musharbash, composed six pieces of music inspired by his artwork.

“The resemblance between the compositions and the ideas behind my paintings is evidence of the strong bond between music and formative art,” he said.