Faisel Laibi

Faisel's œuvre spans fifty years and demonstrates the artist’s continuing commitment to the ancient, traditional, modern and contemporary culture of Iraq. His vividly coloured paintings of individuals and group portraits display ostensibly harmonious scenes of leisure, as demonstrated in his Coffee House series and portraits of fruit, textile, shoe shine and laundry vendors. In his exhibition at Meem Gallery, characters such as The Butcher and The Accordian Player are displayed; and in the case of larger works such as The Café 2, we see a grouping of people from the community, a waiter, a general, a couple reading a newspaper.