Karim Khalil • Photo by: Khdeir Al-Zaiedy
Artist Statement
Series (2018-2019) # Baghdad, Iraq
IN A SOCIETY THAT DICTATES WHAT IS ALLOWED AND WHAT IS NOT, FORBIDDEN FRUIT BECOMES A CLOSELY HELD SECRET
“Decadence” refers to the era in which I created this series of paintings. Not to the figures depicted. It was a time when the mafia controlled the political system, embezzlement was common, and the government generally neglected the state of society.
These paintings tell the tale of desires and thoughts I have never shared with anyone.
Canvases of both fear and joy, they try to express a life lived during wartime, and the coalition-led invasion and occupation of my country. They tell the story of my unconscious being. My self-deceptions. Deep thoughts that have settled in my soul.
Such daydreaming is an escape from a harsh life.
Where words fail, color takes over. Allowing me to express society’s taboos. Beautiful women I wish I could have touched. Lovers and desired ones. Memorable events.
With magic, I try to give my heroes—these beautiful women—life. Their strong character and inner strength are obvious. They are more powerful than men, who have virtually vanished. Even the angels are women.
I feel my spirit cleansed. My very being.
Fish-head
Acrylic & charcoal on canvas
70” x 83”
There is an Iraqi saying to describe a kind and lovable person: ‘His heart is the heart of a fish.’ A fish represents goodness, a blessing, and prosperity.
Girls from the Mesopotamian Marshes
Acrylic & charcoal on linen canvas
98” x 70”
The Mesopotamian or Iraqi Marshes are historic wetlands located on the floodplains of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. From a young age, I heard stories passed down through generations about the legendary beauty of the marsh girls who sold water buffalo yogurt and cream (Iraqi delicacies). I was also in awe of the ability of the ‘marsh people’ to endure and thrive in a very harsh environment. Little did I know that I would experience it first-hand as a soldier during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88).
Located near the border, the marshes created a barrier between the Iranians and us. I will never be able to erase the memory of the extreme conditions I endured there—the fierce battles, the summer’s blazing 122ºF heat, and its insects, reptiles, and snakes.
However, I did finally get to see for myself several of the famous marsh girls. They were blonde and beautiful. Even stunning.
Atrocities
Acrylic & charcoal on canvas
82” x 70”
The gestures of the three women express that I can no longer bear to hear or watch the intense pain and tragedy that is all around me—the atrocities, the death, the theft of the people’s money, the killings based on personal identity—all the crimes that were happening in Iraq when I was creating these paintings, and are still happening. The destruction of my country.
Ruling Mafia
Acrylic & charcoal on linen canvas
83” x 70
While a dog symbolizes kindness, and loyalty, it also possesses a weakness of will. Its personality and actions are dependent on, and are controlled by, its owner. So it becomes fierce when asked to be fierce, and gentle when asked to be gentle.
In this painting, the dog is the loyal lover who doesn’t understand that without warning his beloved can one day toss him aside for another. He is merely her toy, her pet.
Heart of a fish
Acrylic & charcoal on linen canvas
83” x 70”
We have a saying to describe a kind and lovable person: ‘His heart is the heart of a fish.’ A fish represents goodness, a blessing, and prosperity.
The Bus
Acrylic & charcoal on linen canvas
83” x 70”
The bus symbolizes a dream, the open road, another world. It represents the possibility of another life. And each person on the bus has their own life, their own story, their own dream. The two fairies sitting atop the bus give wings to those wishes and dreams. The man’s bird-beaked mask references the mask worn by medieval doctors during the Black Death.
I especially love this painting because its figures are open to interpretation. They give the viewer the opportunity to come up with their own story.
Destiny
Acrylic & charcoal on linen canvas
84” x 70”
The man’s bird-beaked mask references the mask worn by medieval doctors during the Black Death. But it doesn’t only refer to death and illness. It is also a reminder of the role fate and fortune play in life—everything a person is destined to encounter in life.
Women in Headgear
Acrylic & charcoal on linen canvas
69” x 83”
These women wear a variety of military headgear: an ancient Greek or Roman helmet, a modern gas mask, and a medieval Islamic chainmail helmet. It represents the eternal struggle between East and West that has been going on for more than a thousand years. The clash of civilizations.
Figures of Desire
Acrylic & charcoal on linen canvas
97” x 70”
Beautiful women are my heroes. Lovers and desired ones. I wish I could have touched them.
Red
Acrylic & charcoal on linen canvas
58” x 55”
he strong character and inner strength of these women is obvious. They are more powerful than men, who have virtually vanished.
Iraqi Fable
Acrylic & charcoal on linen canvas
83” x 70”
This painting alludes to an ancient Iraqi fable that’s sometimes told as a children’s bedtime story. It goes like this…
Although she already was in love with someone else, a young woman was kidnapped by a man who had also fallen in love with her. Her lover’s attempts to save her and kill this scoundrel were unsuccessful, even though he’d stabbed him repeatedly. Pretending to be in love with her captor, the girl got him to reveal the secret of his ‘eternal life’—his soul lived in a box buried in a bull’s leg. Armed with this knowledge, her lover located the bull, severed the leg, and opened the box. Inside was an ant that contained the kidnapper’s soul. You can imagine how this story ends.
The Bull
Acrylic & charcoal on linen canvas
70” x 98”
For me, bulls symbolize strength, sexuality, and courage. They also represent childhood memories of seeing them in the countryside outside Baghdad where we lived. I later found that a bull is also a beautiful form to draw and sculpt, thanks to my frequent visits to the Iraqi Museum while a student at the University of Baghdad’s College of Fine Arts. (Sadly the museum was looted during and after the 2003 American-led invasion of my country.)