PAST RESIDENTS

Athier Mousawi’s (b. 1982 London, UK) approach to painting is shaped by a respect for the strident lines of bold Arab architecture and the color and vibrancy of Iraqi painting. Athier’s attention to the minute and narrative can be traced to his MA in illustration at Central Saint Martins, London. Upon moving to Paris, the spiritual home of Modernism, Athier began to combine all aspects Modernism, architecture, illustration, always retaining strong Iraqi influences.

Athier currently lives and works between Paris, London and Istanbul. A keen advocate of art education, he has led art workshops in refugee camps in Beirut, Istanbul, Amman and Jarash (2012), and throughout London as The National Portrait Gallery’s ‘Chasing Mirrors’ artist in residence (2011) and British Museum artist in residence 2007–2009.

Abdullah Qandeel (b.1988 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) lives and works in Los Angeles. Qandeel creates passionate and unapologetic abstract paintings. Through bold use of line and color, he illustrates the coalescing of Saudi traditional norms and the vastly changing cultural landscape of the Arab world. As provocateur, he invites and instigates dialogue. His canvases decree: "I hereby state that I no longer accept the stereotype and the prison that has been handed to me over generations of time. I invite you to observe, feel and absorb the development of the new Arab culture, the revival of a new generation where investigation replaces revelation."