Nabil Kanso

Nabil Kanso in front of his painting. Mission of Venezuela to the United Nations

Nabil Kanso is a Lebanese-American painter born in Beirut, Lebanon. His works deal with contemporary, historical and literary themes, and are marked by figurative imagery executed with spontaneous and vigorous handling of the paint and often done on large-scale formats. They reflect movement and tension embodying intense colors and symbolic forms addressing social, political, and war issues.^[1] The Vietnam War and the Lebanese Civil War have profoundly affected the development and scope of his themes dealing with violence and war. His long-running Split of Life series encompasses an extensive range of enormous paintings depicting scenes of human brutality and suffering.^[2]

Life and work

Nabil Kanso grew up in Beirut where his family lived in a house adorned with Italian and Oriental art. In 1961, he went to England, and attended the London Polytechnic studying mathematics and science. In 1966, Kanso moved to New York, and enrolled at New York University where he received BA and MA in art history, philosophy and political science. 1968, he committed himself to painting, acquired a studio in Manhattan, and embarked on developing his ideas and method of painting.^[3] Kanso was part of the post-modernist movement, which enveloped music, fine art, film, and writing. Characteristics of this style is stressing "communication" from artist to audience, and throwing out the traditional narrative the "life has meaning". That Creed of Modernism fell apart after skepticism in mankind's inherent goodness came about after the Holocaust.^[4]

1970–1979

In 1971, Kanso held his first one-man show at the 76th Street Gallery exhibiting 80 paintings that included portraits and nudes in compositions reflecting in varying degrees expressionist, romanticist and symbolist influences.^[5][6] Between 1971 and 1973 he held a series of solo shows that included the Wanderer, Danse Macabre, Birds of Prey, Place des Martyres, and Expressions.^[7][8] Although the exhibitions drew attention and reviews, the lack of sufficient subsistence forced the closing of his studio whose contents including over 700 works ^[9] were placed in storage, and, eventually, lost or destroyed.^[10] Between 1974 and 1979, Kanso took studios in different locations in the Carolinas, Atlanta, and New Orleans producing a large number of paintings. Among the works of this period are the series Vietnam (1974), Lebanon, which he began in 1975, at the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War, One-Minute (1978–79) on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Jazz suite (1978–79) on jazz music, and Faust (1976–79) comprising over 100 paintings on Goethe's drama.^[11]

1980–2007

In 1980, Kanso settled in Atlanta where he established a studio and held several exhibitions.^[12][13] In 1984, he went to Venezuela where his works were shown in Maracaibo (1985), Caracas (1987), and Mérida (1987–88). The exhibitions were an invaluable stimulant in initiating the Journey of Art for Peace through which his works were shown under the auspices of art museums, cultural institutions, and peace centers in extensive solo exhibitions that traveled internationally and particularly in Latin America.^[14] Kanso displays his works by covering the entire walls of the exhibition space with his paintings.^[15] The installation surrounding the viewer aims to convey the intensity between the reality of the subject matter and the actuality of painting, and reflect the artist's engagement with the canvases whose contents represent his visual life and relationship to conflicting Eastern and Western cultures and traditions.^[16]

Lebanese Civil War and Kanso

As a child Nabil Kanso grew up in Lebanon. It is there that he got a lot of inspiration, for the time was 1958 and the Lebanese Civil War was just under way. Lebanese Muslims and Druzes were wanting to join the United Arab Republic. Due to the fact that Lebanon was being run by Maronite Christians it made it very hard for other religious groups to have power. Kanso who came from a family of Druze. This made it hard for him and his family to lead normal lives. Also in 1958, Nabil Kanso had to stop going to school in Lebanon due to the war. In his biography, he talks about how he spent much of his time at the houses of friends and families doing sketches and painting to pass the day. The Lebanese Civil War gave a lot for young Kanso to paint about. [1] This painting from Nabil Kanso's website called "Lebanon: Vortices of Wrath" is a perfect depiction of the country in a time of war. The dark grays and black make for a gloomy, sad mood. In the center, it appears as though there is a power struggle between rugged figures. There is one power trying to over come the other. The way kanso uses blurry images gives a creepy feel. While in the back ground it appears as though there are skeleton like figures. His brush strokes are very apparent and give the painting its life even though it is all about death. It is clear that Kanso drew from the time of the war by the way he make the paintings so solemn.

The Lebanese Civil war was not the only influence in Kanso's work but also the wars in Vietnam and the continuing war in the Middle East. We can clearly see this in his paintings Desert Storm. Here he shows women suffering by losing a child becoming victims of war. War has was a major influence in his work and has made his work become almost biblical and it's represented in his painting Apocalypse. He uses apocalyptic science in his art work making them almost biblical by painting his work with earthquakes, floods, ice, fire and blood referring this to the bible's apocalypse. Nabil Kanso's apocalyptic themes can be said to be linking with the destruction of the Middle East due to war, to the destruction of the Birth place of Jesus and Christianity.

[[File:Nabil Kanso in Atlanta Studio 84.jpg|thumb|right|] Among the works of this period are the series South Africa (1980), Apocalyptic Riders (1980), DreamVision (1980–81), Lebanon (1982–83), Apocalypse (1984), Warring Wings (1984–85), Othello (1985), the Cluster Paintings (1986–88), Leaves from the Theatre of War (1980s), The Dance of Salome (1988), America 500 Years (1989–91), Kuwait 1990–91, Living Memory (1993–94), Bosnia (1995–96), Portraits (1997–99), Iraq (2004–06).

Kanso's Style

Nabil Kanso's works have been said to be apocalyptic in many ways, in Kanso's works he paints a scene of destruction, destroyed buildings, and people usually naked with looks of horror on their faces. He uses red, orange, and yellow to resemble fire, dark colors as if he was painting a nightmare or a scene of hell.

In carrying out his work Nabil Kanso appears calm and quiet. But the light of fire in the paintings look like nightmares which he has to work through, often spending several months on one painting.^[17] Kanso’s outstanding mural-scale paintings are a cross between the specificity of Goya’s ‘Horror of War’ and the universality of Picasso’s Guernica.To stand in the central space surrounded by Nabil Kanso’s 12-foot-high paintings is as close as you get to being in the middle of a fire. Using lurid oranges, yellows and reds, Kanso fills every inch of canvas with visions of violence and human suffering that rival medieval descriptions of Hell.^[18] One painting went the entire length of the room, maybe 30 feet. I felt like a coward. It was almost impossible to look at the power and extravagance of these scenes, so I turned instead and looked at the faces of the other onlookers. In their faces were the reflections of the painted holocaust around us. I turned again to the painting which now entrapped is in a cage of feeling.^[19]

Books

• The Split of Life: Paintings 1974-1994, NEV Editions, 1996, ISBN 1-888536-21-7
• Faust: Paintings 1976-1979, NEV Editions, 1997, ISBN 1-888356-15-2
• Othello 1985, NEV Editions, 1997, ISBN 1-888853-61-9

References

1. ^ Articles in http://nabilkanso.com/texts.html
2. ^ Nabil Kanso: The Split of Life: Paintings 1974-1994, NEV Editions, Atlanta, GA, 1996
3. ^ biography, nabil kanso, nabilkanso.com
4. ^ "What Is Post-Modernist Art?" Postmodernist Art: Definition, Characteristics, History of Postmodernism Movements, Contemporary Installation/Video Art: Turner Prize. Encyclopedia of Art Education. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/postmodernism.htm>.
5. ^ Art Gallery: "Eye on New York: Kanso's Show at 76th Street", January 1972
6. ^ Brown, Gordon: Kanso at 76th Street, Arts Magazine, New York, February 1972
7. ^ Bowles, Jerry: 'Kanso's Paintings" Artnews, New York, July 1972
8. ^ Brown, Gordon: "Kanso’s Expressions", Arts Magazine, New York, February 1973
9. ^ Kanso, Nabil. "Navil Kanso, Nabil Kanso Artworks, Kanso's Art, Kanso's Paintings and Works on Paper." Nabil Kanso, 1996-2009. Web. 12 Apr. 2012
10. ^ The Split of Life, pp.11-12
11. ^ Nabil Kanso: Faust: Paintings 1976-1979, NEV Editions, 1997
12. ^ Fox, Catherine: "Artist inspired by War-torn Homeland", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 8, 1984, pp. H1–2
13. ^ Fox, Catherine: "Fantastic Visions", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 19, 1985, p. H2
14. ^ Spanish articles in http://apocalipsis.us/articulos.html
15. ^ Kanso calls them "the moving murals", The Split of Life, p.11
16. ^ Kurlansky, Gail: "Nabil Kanso's Split of Life Paintings: Looking for the Poet: Power, Death, and Sexuality", Art Papers, November/December 1986, pp.23–26
17. ^ Backstrom, Lars. "Guernica of Our Time." [Stockhom]. Print
18. ^ Fox, Catherine: "Fantastic Visions", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 19, 1985, p. H2
19. ^ Seaberg, Steve. "An Artist Response." Art Papers [Atlanta]. Print.

External links

• Official site
• The Split of Life
• Lebanon Paintings
• Works for Peace
• America series