Stay: art appeal from a woman to women

The third solo art exhibition of Saudi painter Fatimah Al Nemer was hosted last Sunday at Al-Alamia Gallery in Jeddah. A member of the Saudi Society of Fine Arts, the Bahrain Art Society, and the Al-Qatif Art Club, Fatimah who is a jewelry designer by profession is also a young fine arts painter who brings the case of the woman condition to life on canvas, as with her previous solo exhibitions — “Eternal Love” and “Kyan”, in Jordan and Alkhobar, Saudi Arabia. Her paintings have been part of prominent international art exhibitions that include the Jerash Festival of Fine Arts in Jordan; at the Museum of Prince of Wales in Bombay, India; exhibition of Saudi Cultural Days by the Ministry of Culture and Information in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Japan, Oman and Doha in 2010; and several others in Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, Yemen, and Algeria. She has also enjoyed active participation in the past several years at group exhibitions in the Kingdom: Jandriya Festival, Okaz exhibition, and the Saudi Aramco Summer Festival; and was winner of Young Saudi Artists in Saudi Modern Art competition organized by the Ministry of Culture and Information in 2010. Her current exhibition titled ‘Stay’ is an ode to the being of the female gender — an unapologetic exploration of mind and body; reflections on loneliness and yearning; longing for and celebration of motherhood; and the undying hope of breaking-free. “It’s about the origin of women. We have issues and problems, and we know this. I simply wanted to bring that onto the canvas”, she said. One cannot help but notice the rich treatment of her canvas in the use of diverse mediums and moody colors; expressions enrobed and jeweled with ethnic undertones — Arabian motifs, sand, calligraphy, red and white checkered shemagh (traditional Saudi headgear worn by males); and solitary windows — a constantly repetitive symbol in her paintings. “Each of these canvases is a case. I use these different colored canvases simply to highlight them, not hide them”, said Al Nemer. She has quite boldly or subtly — it’s hard to point which — pushed and prodded the means of expressing and celebrating the female form, which may pass unnoticed by the undiscerning eye, much without a hint of provocation. Stay, in that regard, is about the celebration of the female energy- endowed with the power of reproduction, love and care; a glorification of femininity; a response to women who can feel and react. “Every girl has a motherly side, who yearns for a child, a family. All women are like mothers, and like mothers they also suffer and hide their problems, longing for someone to save them. These women in the paintings are like the pregnant women, hiding and protecting what they have inside”, she shared further. At a time where most young artists are experimenting with fairly more modern forms and forums of visual expression, Fatimah remains bound to express her women-centric issues through a traditional style understood best not only to her, but perhaps many other women in the society, who remain tied yet liberated from the shackles of disregarded culture and irreverent distant invasions. She begs the case not just as a Saudi woman in defense of women living in her society, but rather, her appeal remains universal. “The woman is not a body. I treat her like a soul on my canvas. Remember, there is value inside you.” So stay. The exhibition is currently running at Al-Alamia Gallery until tomorrow. All artwork is for sale starting from SR500. Gallery hours: 10 a.m. — 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.—10 p.m. For more information on the artist, please visit: www.artist-alnemer.webs.com