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• Toufic Beyhum on Bidoun art auction at Christies in London

  November 30, 2011

  The Understanding Campaign’s arts columnist reflects on a recent art auction in the UK.

  As an art collector I usually buy artwork that appeals to me, whether it is a painting or a photograph I only take the plunge if it has been instant interest or love at first sight.

  The first question that comes to my mind when looking at a work of art is who the artist is. I like to imagine the context in which the artist was when creating and where he/she is from. Naturally after dwelling in the splendor of the art come the practical next question: how much does it cost?

  Having run a gallery that specialized in Middle Eastern modern art, at times I felt limited and was eager to expand my collection into other cultures, so I started collecting African art and by the time the gallery was into its second year I had German artists, I couldn’t and still can’t really stick to just collecting Middle Eastern art because I just love art all together. It is true that I started collecting German art due to the demand for it, being in Berlin at the time, my customers who were mostly German had not previously been exposed to work from the Middle East and I found that being open to their desires was a good way to open the door to the Middle Eastern work I had on display. Being Middle Eastern I feel naturally drawn to artwork from this region and I think it will always be my main focus; I however always stay open to work from all over.

  I recently went to a Bidoun auction at Christies in London that had International artists, as well as Middle Eastern and to be honest I couldn’t tell the difference.

  These days I don’t see a distinct style from the Middle East that separates it from the rest, the only way you can usually tell if the work originates from the Middle East is when the subject revolves around Middle Eastern or Islamic topics. Some people might see this in a positive light, I however think this has happened as there are a lot of artists who look up to the West and replicate what is being done or what has been done. I do not think that replicating a style is ever a good thing, and I feel it’s a shame that globalization has reached so far that its effects can even be felt in the art world; a world where everything looks the same let alone for a middle eastern twist.

  Twentieth Century artists like Fateh Moudares, Louai Kayali, Elias Zayat, Hamed Nada etc… are Middle Eastern artists who can not be mistaken for anything else.Their use of Middle Eastern subjects didn’t feel as forced as some of the modern art that you see now, more importantly what set them apart was their style. I believe Modern Chinese art is a good example of how artists can cultivate a fresh and modern approach and incorporate a unique style that can only be their own.

  I think the young artists whose work was on display at the Bidoun auction need to be inspired but not over taken by the West and establish their own style.

  I think an excellent place to see young modern art that really inspires and is without doubt Middle Eastern, I would suggest you go to the Modern art museum in Cairo, there is zero pretentiousness and lots of ground breaking art. Hopefully more of these works of art will get the exposure they deserve. In my next blog, I will be focusing on different artists and hope to highlight the ones I think have an interesting and modern approach, keeping an authentic style in their work.

  Toufic

  Tags: art

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