Sudanese sculptor Abdulraziq Abdulghafar Ahmad’s works are distinguished by the diversity of their subjects, media, and implementation methods, which range from realism and expressionism to abstraction. It is noted that his choices in the three methods were determined by a clear vision of what he wanted to express. In his works of portraiture, he tended to adopt realism as a method to express what he sought to reflect in sculpture, in terms of expressions and features, such as “The Face of Jibril Tiyyah” and “The Face of Bakheita,” both of which were completed after his return from his study course at the Camberwell Institute. These works were realized in an academic spirit, without being stringent, and we notice the aptness of his choice of models. In the other two works, “A Woman Caressing Her Child” and “A Reader,” we clearly perceive his transition to expressing general human themes and other issues, such as the relationship between man and the book, i.e., the relationship between reason and knowledge. Here, he moved away from the strict rules of the academic approach and gave himself more freedom to express his chosen themes, in addition to choosing the media that suited the subject and method of treatment. This allowed him to realize what he wanted to express easily and deftly. In his work “Two Pigeons,” he was more inclined towards abstraction, reducing the details into two three-dimensional forms which neatly and fluently expressed what was in his mind in an unobtrusive simplification, a difficult endeavor in the field of three-dimensional form treatment. In his later works, Ahmad ventured deep into the realms of abstraction, though with a careful and calculated approach to abstraction, based on coherent logic backed by deep experience and logical transitions from realism, in all its details, to reasoned and thoughtful simplification with an insightful eye and an adept hand that realizes the potential of his media and what it can be turned into in its final becoming.
Fathi Othman is a visual artist and writer. He graduated at the College of Fine and Applied Arts in Khartoum, then he pursued postgraduate studies at the Hungarian Academy of Arts and obtained his Ph.D. from Otvös Laurent University in Budapest. He worked in the field of graphic design and in the Arab press in London during the nineties of the last century. Among his publications is the seminal book: “The House of al-Jack: A Dialogue with Ibrahim El-Salahi” and two illustrated books, published by the French publishing house Grandier.
Conversations with Sculptor Abdulraziq Abdulghafar Ahmad Sudanese sculptor Abdulraziq Abdulghafar Ahmad’s works are distinguished by the diversity of their subjects, media, and implementation methods, which range from realism and expressionism to abstraction. It is noted that his choices in the three methods were determined by a clear vision of what he wanted to express. In his works of portraiture, he tended to adopt realism as a method to express what he sought to reflect in sculpture, in terms of expressions and features, such as “The Face of Jibril Tiyyah” and “The Face of Bakheita,” both of which were completed after his return from his study course at the Camberwell Institute. These works were realized in an academic spirit, without being stringent, and we notice the aptness of his choice of models. In the other two works, “A Woman Caressing Her Child” and “A Reader,” we clearly perceive his transition to expressing general human themes and other issues, such as the relationship between man and the book, i.e., the relationship between reason and knowledge. Here, he moved away from the strict rules of the academic approach and gave himself more freedom to express his chosen themes, in addition to choosing the media that suited the subject and method of treatment. This allowed him to realize what he wanted to express easily and deftly. In his work “Two Pigeons,” he was more inclined towards abstraction, reducing the details into two three-dimensional forms which neatly and fluently expressed what was in his mind in an unobtrusive simplification, a difficult endeavor in the field of three-dimensional form treatment. In his later works, Ahmad ventured deep into the realms of abstraction, though with a careful and calculated approach to abstraction, based on coherent logic backed by deep experience and logical transitions from realism, in all its details, to reasoned and thoughtful simplification with an insightful eye and an adept hand that realizes the potential of his media and what it can be turned into in its final becoming.
Sudanese sculptor Abdulraziq Abdulghafar Ahmad’s works are distinguished by the diversity of their subjects, media, and implementation methods, which range from realism and expressionism to abstraction. It is noted that his choices in the three methods were determined by a clear vision of what he wanted to express. In his works of portraiture, he tended to adopt realism as a method to express what he sought to reflect in sculpture, in terms of expressions and features, such as “The Face of Jibril Tiyyah” and “The Face of Bakheita,” both of which were completed after his return from his study course at the Camberwell Institute. These works were realized in an academic spirit, without being stringent, and we notice the aptness of his choice of models. In the other two works, “A Woman Caressing Her Child” and “A Reader,” we clearly perceive his transition to expressing general human themes and other issues, such as the relationship between man and the book, i.e., the relationship between reason and knowledge. Here, he moved away from the strict rules of the academic approach and gave himself more freedom to express his chosen themes, in addition to choosing the media that suited the subject and method of treatment. This allowed him to realize what he wanted to express easily and deftly. In his work “Two Pigeons,” he was more inclined towards abstraction, reducing the details into two three-dimensional forms which neatly and fluently expressed what was in his mind in an unobtrusive simplification, a difficult endeavor in the field of three-dimensional form treatment. In his later works, Ahmad ventured deep into the realms of abstraction, though with a careful and calculated approach to abstraction, based on coherent logic backed by deep experience and logical transitions from realism, in all its details, to reasoned and thoughtful simplification with an insightful eye and an adept hand that realizes the potential of his media and what it can be turned into in its final becoming.
Fathi Othman is a visual artist and writer. He graduated at the College of Fine and Applied Arts in Khartoum, then he pursued postgraduate studies at the Hungarian Academy of Arts and obtained his Ph.D. from Otvös Laurent University in Budapest. He worked in the field of graphic design and in the Arab press in London during the nineties of the last century. Among his publications is the seminal book: “The House of al-Jack: A Dialogue with Ibrahim El-Salahi” and two illustrated books, published by the French publishing house Grandier.
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