Acrylic on canvas
100 x 80 cm (39.37 x 31.50 in.)
Executed in 1999
Signed ‘Molaeb’ on the lower right and reverse of the canvas

 Provenance: Galerie Jeanine Rubeiz, Beirut

 Exhibited: Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., Art Paris Abu Dhabi, 2007 at the Galerie Jeanine Rubeiz stand

 Literature and references:

Fine arts publishing, Jamil Molaeb a Self Portrait, full page illustrated picture in color,
p. 101

The forms in this painting are suggested rather than described or defined – they are emergent rather than fully present. Small directional marks move across and against each other and show a tendency to spill over the edges, as if the painting continues beyond its borders. The canvas is an active space in which we can observe the painting come into being.

This piece appeals directly to the senses through its portrayal of the opposition between vertical and horizontal elements. This concept is not an objective observation, but rather a result of long periods of studying and working from nature.

The painting is full of visual energy and gains its strength from its rigidity. The linear aspects are thinned against the pink to make them less invasive. As a result, the pink gains in presence and intensity, and the colored areas in luminosity.

Patches of color, pitched against expanses of pink, are held in place by a grid of carved lines, giving them the appearance of being anchored by the density of the paint alone. Molaeb abandons the usual way of depicting volumes as well as references to weight and gravity, with a subtle movement coming from the bottom left corner: a gust of wind seemingly emerges, causing the ensemble to pass swiftly from left to right, swooping and gliding through an abstract space..