RIYADH (Arabnews): The Misk Art Institute celebrated the launch of its fifth and sixth Art Library book series, highlighting the work of the late Saudi artist Fahad Hajailan and Moroccan artist Amina Agueznay.
It featured a selection of their influential and seminal works alongside articles from local and international art critics and curators.
Accompanying the launch were two exhibitions of artists’ works discussed in the Art Library books.
Hajailan’s book “Poetry in Color” carries a group of paintings that embody his figurative and abstract style and his poetic use of color.
Amina Agueznay’s art combines modern construction techniques and traditional weaving and breaks down barriers between art and crafts.
He was known for his embodiment of women and abstract art, geometric shapes, and colored spaces.
The Misk institute invited Agueznay to have her first exhibition in Riyadh, where visitors enjoyed the distinctive shapes created from wool and other elements.
Agueznay is an artist, jewelry designer, and architect based in Casablanca.
“I’ve been into art since I was a child since my mother has been an artist as well,” she told Arab News. “I worked as an architect in the US, and I returned to Morocco to design jewelry and collaborate with other artists to make jewelry. I liked the synergy and exchange I learned from them. Likewise, they learn from me.
“Then I started working on company projects to accompany artisans for different kinds of crafts to modernize their products for commercial purposes. I loved it because it enabled me to discover more of the areas of Morocco, where they have many different crafts and wool art.”
Agueznay’s agency said she started working with female artisans and became interested in wool as an artistic element through rug weavers, which is how her inspiration for using threads began.
She had a workshop at the exhibition where she taught visitors to work with wool to create special pieces of art.
Al-Hujailan was known for his embodiment of women in most of his works, and he is known for his abstract art, geometric shapes, and colored spaces.
“What’s cool about the workshop is that the theme was weaving, but it’s about how you write stories with the wool. So, I brought the wool from Morrocco, and now the visitors are doing incredible things with it,” she said.
Her book “Unmuted Narratives” explores her artwork, which combines modern construction techniques and traditional weaving to break down the barriers between art and crafts.
“The book that was written about my art enabled me to see a large body of my work and my progress, which is great for an artist. And I’m ready to move on and evolve more in the art world, so I’m grateful for Misk Art Institute for this,” Agueznay said.
The Art Library series, which ends on Aug. 15, was launched to enrich local creative content. The event constitutes the core of the institute’s goals and represents its focus on instilling a culture of awareness and encouraging more documentation in the Saudi art and culture sector.
