Meet Amira Behbehani
Amira, courtesy of the artist.
Amira, courtesy of the artist.
I first heard of Amira's creative family lineage through speaking with Emirati artist Abdul Qader Al Rais. Al Rais mentioned the influence and talent of one of his secondary art teachers, Jawad Boushahri in Kuwait during the early 1960s. Jawad, Amira's uncle, promoted the local arts scene by opening his epynonmous gallery, Boushahri Gallery in 1982. His early art teaching experience and sculpting career, first as a Member of Kuwait’s Association for Formative Arts, ultimately led him to become the Deputy Manager of the Kuwait National Museum. Only 9 years old at the time, Amira was inspired to follow this artistic path of her uncle by working in the advertising agency division of Jawad's conglomerate, Boushahri Group.
It was only in 2001 when Amira began her career as a painter. Nevertheless Amira is part of a family keen to the artistic senses and carries with her a childhood full of admiring art, and a knowledge of other culture's design and art histories. Her works recall artists like Paul Klee, Jean Dubuffet and Egon Shiele but at the same time bear forms and symbols of her childhood memories between Shiraz and Kuwait.
I had the chance to speak with Amira on one of her works exhibited in a retrospective at the Contemporary Art Platform gallery (CAP): "A Fifteen-Year Journey: The Art of Amira Behbehani." The work I have chosen for this week's Artwork of the Week is "Single Line." This work has layers of scintillating and sinuous lines on paper with geometric and triangular forms suspended over crowds of women in abayas. "In this artwork a line starts from one end, creating shapes and ends on the other side," says the artist.
Amira speaks with us about her work:
MEA: What were your earliest memories in the art scene in Kuwait?
Amira: I remember very well that I had my first visit to a museum with my uncle when I was around 8 years old. This was the first time I was exposed to art at a young age although my uncle had a studio where he used to sculpt and paint.
MEA: How did your Uncle Jawad's gallery impact you? Was his gallery instrumental in the Kuwaiti art scene?
Amira: His gallery was considered the second gallery to open in Kuwait, and it hosted many local and international artists, I spent most of my time there.
Single lines I, II, III. Ink & Thread on paper 77 x 57 cm. "When I was a child, my grandmother used to take me to women’s’ gatherings or her sister’s, there used to be a lot of women there in their Abbaya’s, all in black the same shape & color... I used to imagine them all connected in one line, especially when they all sit still; next to each other, in weddings or funerals.. In this artwork a line starts from one end creating shapes and ends in another." Amira Behbehani.
Alive. Acrylic & Charcoal on raw canvas 100 x 120 cm. Inspired by Bernard Buffet
The Chair. "This is my grandfather’s chair that he had for almost 50 years. It’s been with me since 1997, I’m fond of collecting chairs. My grandfather has a strong in uence on me, I was raised by him and my grandmother. He was a very strong man, When I see the chair, I remember his room, where he stands, were he eats, were he sleeps and I imagine myself moving with him in his room, I can feel him alive." Amira.
MEA: Did you always intend to become an artist since you were young?
Amira: I never had an idea or a plan about my artistic future, but I was always drawn to art and design as well as fashion and furniture. I was fond of beauty in any object I was surrounded by or exposed to. I started collecting art and antiques at an early age, even jewelry, so this was an indication that I was an admirer of art.
MEA: What exhibition was transformative for you and why?
Amira: "Kingdom of Attachment" during 2008 -2009 at Sultan Gallery signified a transformation of my art and my being.
MEA: Can you explain the importance of the “line” in your canvases?
Amira: The line was a theory of form that I believe in. I look at objects and imagine where the line started and ended. I believe in the Line as an image creator, and if you combine many lines together you create an image. It could be sharp, bent, curved or any type of form.
MEA: What is the artistic process of “Single Lines”?
Amira: In 2007-2008 I had this idea to experiment different colors of ink such as brown and black sometimes sepia by combing curvy random lines close to each other creating these women with abaya. The image I had in my mind was about my childhood when I used to go with my grandmother to visit her sisters and they were many of them siting in the living room wearing their abayas all looking the same. The abayas looked like a straight line although they were different in hight and size.
The Exhibit. Mixed media 300 x 150 cm. "Joining the present into the past, the east into the west, these women are gathered in Matisse’s courtyard being watched by The Masters in Morocco. The Master’s are Picasso, Matisse, Francis Bacon, Van Gogh & Joan Miro. When I nished the painting I paid attention to the women, I realized none of the women are looking at the masters behind, as if they are the ones who are being exhibited not the masters. "
I started working on this concept in 2009. This was the first artwork of such form of work, and then I completed the artwork in 2012 by adding the stitched threads on the top creating another direction for the form of line. I was creating images with the threads instead of the ink.
MEA: What is the importance of women in your work?
Amira: The women is all about the important figure within my family; it's my mother, my aunt and my grandmother. They had a strong influence on me and also I am a mother who raised my kids alone with the help of my family, so I believe in the strength of a women.
MEA: Do you have plans in mentoring younger students in Kuwait? What do you feel needs to happen to have a more cohesive art scene there?
Amira: Yes I do. I will be conducting a workshop with LOYAC in October. It's all about unleashing the artistic and hidden talent through art. Some do need guidance, they need to discover new techniques by experimenting different mediums. This is how I learned. The self evolvement is important and some need to know how.