IMAN ALI KHALED
biography anchor
IMAN ALI KHALED
BIOGRAPHY
Born
1962 Baghdad, Iraq
Domicile
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Education
Art Institute Baghdad, Iraq 1979-1984
IMAN ALI KHALED – FREEDOM TO THE MODERN PERSPECTIVE – Silent Thunder
LIFE AND WORK
Iman Ali Khaled, born 1962 in Baghdad (Iraq) was educated from 1979-1984 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad by her teachers in the tradition of the radical modernism of her Jewaad Seleem (1919-1961). After her studies she, as a Kurdish painter, chose to stay out of the group of artists that, receiving privileges from the Regime – were working as officially ‘independant’ artists but unless producing art works which the Regime required from them to glorify his oppressive regime. During these eight years she worked as a free painter and as a theatrical costume designer for Iraq Fashion House. Later after the Iraq Wars and the continuing aggression ‘Killing Fields ‘ of the Regime in Kurdistan, Iman Ali Khaled, like most artists from Kurdistan, fled to Europe and settled down in Amsterdam.
In the Netherlands now Iman Ali Khaled was able – due to her transverse thinking – to live her urge for freedom and modernity that was lacked in cultural, religious and private life in Iraq. Her paintings are a mix of arabesque and contemporary Western art movements, powerful reflections like ‘ Silent Thunders ‘ of her Iraqi-Kurdish past as well as dream images that actually represent her free Western life in the Netherlands: “The difference between my autonomous work of then and now, is that I now have more research and more experiment in making a colourful and powerful imagery. Subjects such as freedom were then in Iraq in contrast to here a taboo and dangerous. That has made me stronger as a person and as an artist in my work. Often I paint with my hands as digging in the sand of my past to make new sculptures on canvas of my free present life.” (Iman Ali Khaled)
PAINTINGS
The paintings of Iman Ali Khaled consist of several layers, each with its own story. “My work is a kind of film, like a series of snapshots from my life. When I paint, I am always busy with the ‘now’, with the current feelings in my life and how they can be pictorially translated. If the world looks different to me the next day while I’m still working on the picture, I create a new world with a different story by putting a new layer filled with emotion, colors and life over the previous one and while keeping some details underneath. ”
Iman Ali Khaled creates her paintings as three dimensional color spaces – sculptures on canvas – by adding either sand or silicone mass to the colors to enhance the expressivity of her works. Her color palette usually lingers in rich colors, from warm yellow, orange and red tones to deep night blue nuances. During the working process, the screen is also rotated over and over again to keep the composition in balance. Recurring themes are interpersonal relationships, symbolized in close-ups of eyes, hands, mouths and faces, abstracted and expressive in ever new variations. Although their work seems cheerful at first glance, a closer look reveals a sometimes lyrical-melancholic or aggressive “sound” that is as versatile as the facets of human life.
OBJECTS AND MORE
In addition to her works on canvas or paper, Iman Ali Khaled creates sculptural works which are made of various materials, often painted in colors. She transfers her general methods of composition and her artistic expression of her paintings to these three-dimensional objects as well. These also illustrate the tense complexity of human life and social relationships – between loneliness and togetherness – in the good and in the bad.
They also symbolically describe her life experiences of the struggle of the sexes in the confrontation with the daily life. As an artist, Ali Khaled’s strength shows in honest and ruthless handling of these topics. The crises of her own life, like her own now overcoming cancer, flow into this highly personal context and can be felt by the attentive viewer.
AWARD/PRICES
-SBK Amsterdam, Price for best solo artist (Register Amsterdam)
CORPORATE COLLECTIONS:
Artworks of Iman Ali Khaled are represented in many corporate and private collections all over Europe and The Middle East (i.e. Ibrahimi Collection) and also sold at Bonham’s Auctions in London.
EXHIBITIONS
1981-1994
-Art Institute, Baghdad: Young Iraquian Artists, Iraq
-The Spanish Cultural Center’s Art Exhibition, Iraq
-Iraqi Modern Art Museum, Baghdad
-Istanbul Graphic Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey
-The First International Iraq Biennial, Baghdad, Iraq
-The Contemporary Iraq Art Exhibition, Cyprus
-The Contemporary Iraq Art Exhibition
Royal Cultural Center, Amman, Jordan
-Al Mehraz Biennial, Tunis, Tunisia
-The Contemporary Iraq Art Exhibition, Rome, Italy
-The Contemporary Iraq Art Exhibition,Kassel, Germany
Solo Exhibitions
1992
-A special world, Baghdad Art Institute, Iraq
1993
-The Kiss, Baghdad Art Institute, Iraq
1997
-De Balie, Amsterdam
2004
-Gallery Foresight, Amman, Jordan
-Aa-Kerk (Spotlights), Groningen, The Netherlands
-SBK Amsterdam, Price for best solo artist (Register Amsterdam)
-Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2005
-Markt 5, Almere, The Netherlands
-SBK Tilburg, The Netherlands
2012
-Uhr Art Gallery Amman, Jordan
Group Exhibitions
1992
-Abaad Gallery, Amman, Jordan
1994
-Baladna Art Gallery, Amman, Jordan
2001
-De Rims Gallery, Colors & Ideas, Five Dutch Artists, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2002
-Kunst-in-Ahoy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
-Neumarkter Strasse, Munich, Germany
2003
-Galerie De Rooiperd, Enkhuizen, The Netherlands
2004
-Plastic Art International Festival of Mahras, Tunisia
2005
-Plastic Art International Festival of Mahras, Tunisia
-Open Ateliers, Nieuwendam, The Netherlands
-Open Ateliers, Nieuwmarkt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2006
-Alraveden Festival, Berlin, Germany
-Kunstkerk, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
-Iman Ali & Abdullah, Munich, Germany
-Assilla Festival, Assilla, Marocco
2007
-Orangerie, Amstelpark, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
-Artists for Freedom – Stem voor kunst, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
-Noorder IJ Kunst Amsterdam, The Netherlands
-Atelierroute Boven ’t IJ, Nieuwendam-Amsterdam, The Netherlands
-Show your hope, The World in Amsterdam, the mobile global exhibition, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2009
-Galerie Windkracht Den Helder, The Netherlands
2013
-Baghdad, Iraq
2014
-ArtCommunication, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2020
-Upcoming Dar al Alanda Gallery , Jordan
MEDIA
Catalog Iman Ali Khaled:”Freedom to the Modern Perspective” – Silent Thunder
Catalog produced in 2019 by Foundation Art & Communication ( The ArtCommunicators )
YouTube-Interview met Iman Ali Khaled
