User talk:Hamadkhalaf

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[edit] user page

It is felt that the article you created at Hamad khalaf is not suitable for a Wikipedia article, which must have a notable subject and be verifiable. I have moved it to User:Hamadkhalaf, which is where users are free to write about themselves. You are at liberty to move it back into the (Main) namespace but bear in mind that if you do so, it is likely to be nominated for deletion.

Note, however, that the purpose of a user page is to enable active editors of Wikipedia to introduce themselves to other editors. Wikipedia is not a general hosting service, so your user page is not a personal homepage. Content unrelated to Wikipedia or its editing is likely to be removed.

Please see the user page guidelines, especially this section for more information.

Please read WP:AUTO. The recommendation is always: wait until someone else writes a biography about you.

Also, we do not use caps in section headings. -- RHaworth 19:39, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

Please see link below to The The Jakarta Post. I hope it established Notability.The bottom part of the article is a biography:

http://thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060723.P01

QUOTE: Hamad Khalaf: Transforming 'acts of war' into works of art Features - July 23, 2006


Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

Myths and legends are often thought of as fantastic stories, taking the human mind on a journey to the illusionary worlds of gods, goddesses, heroes and heroines, demons and monsters, a world of supernatural creatures with supernatural powers and supernatural deeds.

While fact and fiction may intertwine, to the Greeks, mythology was a part of their history; and few ever doubted that there was truth behind the account of the Trojan War in The Iliad and The Odyssey.

Hamad Khalaf's solo exhibition at Nadi Gallery here brings back the fascinating Greek mythology that captivated him since he first saw the Clash of the Titans in his early youth.

At the same time, however, Khalaf projects the fallacies of grandeur, of arrogance and mischief, of greed, hatred, murder, love and violence, of prejudice and discrimination, on situations of our world today, with a particular focus on the war and war tactics. It is as if Khalaf wanted to say that nothing has really changed in the evolution process of what is called "civilization".

But what makes Khalaf's oeuvre particularly interesting is that he breathes new life into used war materials by transforming them into works of art, not as a means for new aggression but rather as an outlet for his frustration at continuing acts of war in today's world.

Khalaf's oeuvre is a protest to the Iraqi occupation of his home country Kuwait, as well as to all other forms of war or aggression.

Well acquainted with Greek mythology, Khalaf's fluid parallels between settings of the ancient past and current situations reveal not only an innovative mind-set, but also profound insights into the characters of the Greek Pantheon, of gods and deities and their human nature, which is so much like that of earthly creatures.

Painted on war objects, which he collected from deserted battlefields, are fragments of Greek mythology, such as Jason, the Argonauts and the Golden Fleece.

For those familiar with the epic poems of Greek mythology, it is easy to see where the artist got his titles. But it takes more effort to see a parallel between the Greek myths and our present situation.

Paintings of Jason and the Argonauts refer to the invasion of Kuwait and the torching of its oil wells, and may be further extended to the recent conflict in the Middle East. Images of Zeus, the supreme ruler of the Gods; the sirens, whose sweet voices lured sailors to their death; and Medea, whose gift of a beautiful looking robe appeared to be deadly; are Khalaf's way of warning against the superpowers spreading their "myths".

Although one may be ignorant of Greek mythology, Khalaf's strong, stylized images in terra cotta, black and white compel the viewer to invest more time in them.

Interestingly, Khalaf, who lives in Bali, has also made work about the Bali bombings. A work titled Rubble Puzzle features ceramic and terra cotta fragments gathered from the bombing site in Kuta, painted with fragments of the Trojan War characters, and placed in a confusing mix of both winners and losers, heroes and victims, as if to accentuate the futility of myths highlighting heroism.

He has also made paintings that appear like abstractions of invasions spurred by greed for oil.

Tiny figures suggestive of soldiers are arranged like chess pieces, or descend onto canvases painted in blue, terra cotta, black and white, or light violet, light pink, black and gray or grayish white or in camouflage colors -- like an oil slick spreading out in the ocean.

Ibox

Hamad Khalaf was born in 1971 in Kuwait, a country on the northeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula, at the head of the Persian Gulf where 85 percent of the population is Muslim. He first became attracted to Greek mythology when watching the film The Clash of the Titans in 1980, and as he delved into whatever he could grab on Greek mythology, he became fascinated. For was not real life like a mythological stage where greed, hatred, jealousy, injustice and discrimination, but also love, were ruled by the might of power?.

Khalaf was only a boy when the war between Iraq and Iran broke out but the pangs of war no doubt made an impact on his young life as Kuwait is bordered on the north and west by Iraq. The horrors of war became even more poignant when Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait in 1990. Even as he proceeded on his career as a graduate of marketing and international business, his heart remained with issues of injustice, war, terror, and discrimination. When going into the field on one of his missions, he could not resist collecting the military helmets, gloves, gas masks, flasks and other remainders of the war that raged in Kuwait and were to be cleared from the battlefields when the war was over.

A self-taught artist, Khalaf's first show in Kuwait (1995) was followed by a show in Florence in 1996, and in Louvain and Antwerp in 1997. He drew international attention with his site-specific installation of 50 painted military helmets at the Unesco headquarters in Paris (1998), a provocative piece of work titled Les Argonautes a la recherche de la toison d'or noir (Argonauts search for a fleece of black gold).

Khalaf is a full-time artist, residing in Bali. His show at Nadi gallery is his 10th solo exhibition since 1995. His works have been collected by Musee de Louvain La Neuve/Belgium, Maison Unesco, Paris, AIAP, Paris, Artiade Foundation, Berlin, the Nadi Gallery Jakarta, and various private collectors in Europe and the USA.