FAYEZ BARAKAT : Private Passions

Rajesh Punj

Pressing an association with the fore-fathers of modern painting, French
impressionist Claude Monet, American Mark Rothko, Spaniard Joan Miró, Henri
Matisse, Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh, among others; Barakat recalls these
leading protagonists of modern painting as his contemporaries; men with a vision
for painting that was uncompleted, as each of their lifetimes proved a mere fleeting
moment for the development of abstraction. And abstraction is at the core of the
superlative ability of this remarkable man. Addressing sensations that are as integral
to our human DNA as the blood that courses through our veins, Barakat wants
to paint his way into history with works of astonishing beauty. For Fayez Barakat
canvas, oil and acrylic are the raw material for his inspired visions of abstraction;
each unique painting marking a new moment in his career. Barakat positively takes
our principled understanding of abstraction and challenges its very foundations;
unsettling our senses whilst positively igniting our imaginations. Barakat’s works
are proof of the regal strength of his long-standing ability to reshape abstraction.
Collectively these paintings illuminate Fayez Barakat’s audacious palette and further
demonstrate his brilliant mind. Any rare exhibition of works represents only the
tip of a colossal iceberg that constitutes Fayez Barakat’s accomplished works of
abstraction, that are held in significant collections across the world, like prizes,
testament to one man’s ambitious flare and private passion.

Mustard Fantasy 25 is another warm thoroughly engaging
work of colours that appear fired by their energetic application
to the canvas. Barakat has drawn on a palette that comes
together in a deliberate crescendo of smothered colours
that repel one another. Where colours were previously seen
dripping from the canvas, here Barakat has consciously
allowed his acrylics to settle and dry to the skin; as all of
these colours appear driven into the canvas, creating a cloud
of kaleidoscopic colours. Mustard Fantasy 25 engages in a
gestural dust cloud of marks whipped up by a coloured sand
storm, and Barakat’s feverish marks appear overwhelmed
by this thick terracotta skin that is as deliciously warm as
it appears all consuming. This de Kooning style all over
mark-marking makes for an incredibly sophisticated work of
gestural abstraction that has within it multiple meanings.