Bassim Al Shaker: Human Crumbs

Exploring the seeming contradiction and absurdity of modernity as it relates to the gravity of the artist’s formative experiences in Baghdad as the whole of Iraq fell into the abyss of conflict coupled with his experiences after migrating to the US in 2013, BASSIM AL SHAKER presents a riveting series of new paintings in his solo show Human Crumbs at FLXST Contemporary. The paintings in the show obliterate figuration and transform it into kinetic abstraction like balloons popping in slow motion. The paintings are allegories of the human condition when left unchecked. “All that is solid melts into air,” as the literary critic Marshall Berman notably wrote in his critique of modernity—a critique that the larger narrative of Al Shaker’s new body of work captures and upholds.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
BASSIM AL SHAKER is an Iraqi artist and a United States citizen. Bassim was born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq, during a period of political conflict and humanitarian torment. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Baghdad College of Fine Arts, where the primary focus of his studies was on cultivating his drawing and painting skills using an academic technique. His style is the culmination of a background in academic drawing and painting techniques and a pursuit of exploration in creating contemporary art. Bassim obtained his Master of Fine Arts degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and he is continuing to work toward his goal of further self-discovery and development of his artistic style.