Ayad Alqaragholli

ARTIST STATEMENT

'The figure is very important in art history. The first artists drew figures on the walls of caves and in time they then began to make obelisks. Afterwards they made figures of heroes from their history in the form of sculptures. The contemporary human can read the story of the history of the world from the artwork that has been produced throughout the ages.

The figure has accompanied me in my mind since I was a child, because I grew up in the region of Ur, southern Iraq and all around me was the history of Samaria which made a big impression on me. Therefore this influenced me to become an artist and sculptor.

My artwork is a documentary from what I see in my daily life. The figure in my artwork means love, land, peace and freedom and modern history needs to translate and document reality. In philosophy the meaning of art is about the history of mankind.

All my artwork is built on two things - form and idea, narrative and beauty. The idea for my artwork begins in my mind as a dream about humans, then animals and ending with birds. Also I connect the two different cultures of Samaria and Australia in my artwork which reflects the old world and the new world, so I adapt the old to become new and reflect this in what I produce. My memory carries a lot of observations from my childhood through to my new homeland and peace in Australia... some things are sad and some things are happy and ending with peace. In the past my artwork meant sadness and in the present it means peace.

What makes me glad is when I see somebody who shows kindness to another person and also the sound of birds in the morning inspire me to be creative in the new day, but mostly it gives me satisfaction to make a sculpture of a figure which is part of history. I use many materials in my artwork but my favourite is bronze because bronze is a material that has been used throughout and has the 'smell' of history, 

Ayad has exhibited extensively internationally; often in the Middle East, in particular Jordan and Baghdad for more than twenty years. Most recently he has created large-scale in situ public art projects artworks in China at the High-Tech zone of the acclaimed Qingdao International Lan Bay Art Park, China and a major public art sculpture as an invited symposium member for the Changbai Mountain International Symposium on the Chinese/North Korean border. Ayad is known for his large-scale public art projects and has recently completed the Presbyterian Ladies College Centenary Sculpture, (pictured at right with Ayad Alqaragholli).

**Note - Please contact Sherri Staltari (Director) 0417 184 638 if you are interested in commissioning any larger scale works by Ayad Alqaragholli, particularly for outdoors.**

ARTIST STATEMENT - 'reincarnation 2018 - Ayad Alqaragholli

Al rafiq الرفيق (The companion)

It interests me the personification of human qualities that people confer onto their pets and particularly the bond between man and dog. The intensity of affection and companionship between man and dog can transcend the owner/subservient role and seems at times as if there is a ‘rebirth’ of a human soul into an animal’s body; the dog becoming ‘human’, one’s closest friend or companion; never questioning, fiercely loyal, emotionally present and acutely perceptive to human moods and feelings. When a dog dies the depth of grief that can manifest in its owner is often akin to the passing of a human companion, or as is the saying, man’s best friend.

Rufaqa' alruwh رفقاء الروح (Soulmates)

In considering reincarnation as a new version of something from the past, then the freshness of a new relationship with the infinite possibility of finding one’s soulmate is reflective of the freedom to express this openly in Australian daily life. Love is the underlying constant that connects us all and weaves a thread through our past, our present and our future.

Curriculum Vitae

Ayad-Alqaragholli-CV-2017.doc (doc 44kB)

Exhibitions

• Wed 08 Jul - Fri 07 Aug 2020 'Refrain. Reflect. Reset (Art in the Time of Corona)'

  A group exhibition exploring the artists' experience of the  Corona enforced period of lockdown and isolation. Featuring Kathryn Haug, Mardi Crocker, Alex Maciver, Sue Leeming, Wade Taylor, Di Cubitt, Denise Pepper, Britt Mikkelsen, Ayad Alqaragholli, Liam Dee, Marcia Espinosa, Michelle Hyland, Alana McVeigh, Tori Benz, Jarrad Martyn, Shana James, Ellen Norrish and Lindsay Harris.

• Wed 11 Dec - Fri 10 Jan 2020 'Seasonal Salon' - STALA CONTEMPORARY artists (Gallery A)

  A salon hang of some of the works of the incredible artists who exhibit at STALA CONTEMPORARY. Join us to celebrate the amazing art year that was! Works pictured here are just an indication and will be available to cash and carry after Opening Night.

• Tue 11 Dec - Sat 12 Jan 2019 'WIP' (Work in Progress) - Group Exhibition (Image courtesy Ian Williams artist)

  STALA CONTEMPORARY is proud to celebrate the opening of its new gallery premises with its inaugural group exhibition 'WIP (Work in Progress' running 11 -29 December 2018. Featuring an exuberant and eclectic assembly of 17 exceptional artists:

  Adam Hisham Ismail/ Alex Maciver/ Anna Sabadini/ Anne Walmsley/ Ayad Alqaragholli/ Denise Pepper/ Di Cubitt/ Ellen Norrish/ Jarrad Martyn/ Kathryn Haug/ Kim Hyunji/ Liam Dee/ Marcia Espinosa/ Michelle Hyland/ Richard Healy/ Sue Leeming/ Wade Taylor

  Affordable/Collectable Art from the West End Arts Precinct to you!

  Image courtesy Ian Williams artist

• Tue 13 Mar - Fri 23 Mar 2018 'reincarnation' - Group Exhibition

  'reincarnation' is the first group exhibition to celebrate the launch of STALA CONTEMPORARY. Running TUESDAY 13 - Friday 23 March 'reincarnation' features a stellar line up of 13 diverse and dynamic contemporary artists from WA, Melbourne and Sydney,. STALA CONTEMPORARY is thrilled to be featuring painting, drawing and sculptures by Richard Healy (Sydney), Kim Hyunji (Melbourne), Kathryn Haug, Jarrad Martyn, Alex Maciver, Wade Taylor, Michelle Hyland, Di Cubitt, Ayad Alqaragholli, Marcia Espinosa, Anne Walmsley, Ellen Norrish and Adam Hisham Ismail.

  Participating artists have been invited to exhibit new or recent works that respond to the theme of reincarnation.

• Wed 12 Feb - Sat 08 Mar 2014 'Romanah (Pomegranate)' - Ayad Alqaragholli

  Iraqi-born sculptor Ayad Alqaragholli's fourth solo exhibition at emerge featuring stunning new bronze sculptures referencing the comman thread linking people of all creeds. A must-see for 2014!

• Wed 22 Aug - Fri 28 Sep 2012 'The Passage South' - Ayad Alqaragholli

  Ayad was an established and acclaimed artist in the Middle East before coming to Australia as an immigrant with his young family in 2005. He has recently returned from exhibitions in both Jordan and the University of Kyoto, Japan where he was invited to exhibit together with many other renowned international artists. It was during a symposium of many Middle Eastern artists in Jordan that Ayad took inspiration from the varied and often poignant stories of human suffering and oppression shared amongst the artists to produce the body of work for ‘The Passage South’. Ayad sought to reflect the conflicted Middle Eastern situation, and the universal human condition experienced by the people particularly of Egypt and Syria in his signature elongated silicon bronze sculptures created for this exhibition. In contrast to the harrowing tales he experienced in the Middle East, Ayad seeks to also depict the ‘Paradise’ he and his family have found living in his adopted country of Australia.

• Wed 08 Sep - Fri 24 Sep 2010 'Kiss and Fly'- Ayad Alqaragholli

  An exhibition of new sculptures and a selection of paintings by popular Iraqi born artist Ayad Alqaragholli. Ayad exhibited in Sculpture by the Sea Cottesloe 2010 and this new show follows on from his recent participation in an exhibition of renowned sculptors in Jordan. In addition to his signature human form sculptures in copper and bronze 'Kiss and Fly' will also feature new paintings referencing Ayad's cultural upbringing in southern Iraq.

• Wed 12 Aug - Sun 30 Aug 2009 'From Mesopotamia' - Ayad Alqaragholli

  Ayad Alqaragholli is an Iraq born bronze artist and painter whose work is well known in the Middle East and Europe following numerous solo and group exhibitions. He has just returned to Australia from another sell out solo exhibition in Jordan.

  This is Ayad's first solo exhibition in Australia and explores his interest in the cultural identity and history of Mesopotamia and the role of the human figure throughout ancient history to the modern day.

  This exhibition features recurring motifs of the human form, birds and wings evoking flight and freedom and juxtaposing the solidity of chairs and ladders and themes of peace and happiness that came to the artist in dream sequences. Ayad chooses his preferred medium bronze because he believes it lends his artwork 'the smell of history'.

• Wed 29 Apr - Fri 15 May 2009 'OBJECTIFY' - A group exhibition

  Featuring the sculptures of Thomas Heidt, Pierre Capponi and Daniel Iley, new southern ice porcelain vessels by ceramicist Alana McVeigh, jewellery by up-and-coming jewellers Kim Wong and Justin Linney, Katrina Virgona's textile a works, glass forms by Denise Pepper and bronze sculptures by Ayad Alqaragholli.

Works