At 77, Mahmoud Sehili gives dazzling painting exhibit in Tunis
Tunis, April 24, 2008 (TunisiaOnline)--Mahmoud Sehili, whose reputation as a dedicated and talented artist needs hardly be made, is currently exhibiting his canvasses at the headquarters of the Arab International Bank of Tunisia (BIAT), in Tunis . The bank which has committed itself to support the arts in Tunisia, is also closely involved in the refurbishing of the Tunis Municipal Theater, the funding of the Ariana media center, as well as in promoting a number sports and cultural events.
The private view of the exhibition, which took place on April 22, witnessed the presence of a large number of artists and intellectuals.
The exhibit is marked by the recurrence of Sehili's favorite pictorial themes and techniques, notably the contrast between darkness and light, as well as the Medina and its swarm of people moving in and out of the town's colorful doorways and porches.
Once again, the painter remains faithful to his large brush strokes, and flows of painting. His vision is imbued with a realism which tends towards the abstract, the ungraspable, and which does not say it all, leaving the viewer's eye to complete the meaning, if any , of the work. The renowned French philosopher, Michel Foucault, who greatly admired Sehili's work, once qualified it as : “Abstract painting revisiting the figurative”.
In all his works, the painter makes no secret of his moods. Indeed, melancholy, uncertainty and the quest for the right shade, or stroke, pervade his canvasses, which the visitor's eye rekindles with unending pleasure.
At 77, the painter remains artistically independent, refusing to be labeled as belonging to a particular school. His vision and precision remain nevertheless, as distinctively unique as when he first started painting. The exhibit will run until May 22, 2008 .
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