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An Iraqi-born artist sculpts his
experience of Home
Exhibit aims to foster healing, and celebrate the beauty of Iraq.
By:
Caroline Prieur Schulz 1864 Mountain Road Otisville, NY 10963
(845)386-3305
5/19/2007
Thousands of miles from his homeland, Najim H. Chechen stands
surrounded by his mother, sisters, nieces, nephews and neighbors.
They¹re sculpted in terracotta these figures were on exhibit at the
Pomegranate Gallery on Greene Street in Soho. The women are modeled
impressionistically in the warm brick colors of terra cotta, They are 4
inches to 12 inches high and often dressed in the graceful, billowy
robes of the desert. A few figures represent friends and on a nearby
table three whirling dervishes are serenely engaged in the graceful
turning and mystical dance of the Sufi. In front, a fellow Sufi flutist
all dressed in white , is blissfully creating the mood on his slender
reedflute.
Also featured in the show are very striking , dynamic bronzes. As soon
as one approaches the alcove of the forty-one sculptures, one¹s eye is
drawn to the
brilliant, golden couple with robes billowing in the wind. Arm-in-arm ,
an impressionistically rendered man looks down with tender warmth into
the up-turned gaze of his female lover. Both stride forward, their
wind-swept robes billowy and irridescent with the dazzling color of
gold leaf.
In an opposite corner, "Fleeing Man" is reaching and lunging forward
in a gravity-defying pose with only the tip of his trailing toe
barely touching a shadowy puddle of oil. This masterpiece is a wonder
of fluid, explosive energy , brilliantly executed and rich with texture.
A playful work entitled "Iraq in Turmoil" features a sea monster
emerging from the boiling, surging waves of a stormy sea. A fragile
craft is being torn and tossed like a cork. It is broken in half as it
crests over the back of the sea monster , which cracks its hull and
splinters its mast in half. Two sailors are being knocked off
balance. One man, already over board and up to his armpits in water,
gazes in disbelief at the mind-boggling and awesome, destructive power
of the Sea Monster.
"Pharoah¹s Daughter" is a a very serene , classically modeled fragment
of a female face whose eyes are closed with the peaceful glow of inner
reflection. She charms the viewer with the timeless mystery of a quiet,
beguiling smile that speaks to us of a woman¹s unspoken secrets.
All these sculptures in both terracotta and bronze are created by Najim
H Chechen, an Iraqi- born , Turkmen sculptor who has been sculpting,
creating and developing his masterful style continuously for the past 33
years since the mid- 60¹s when he was a student at the Academy of Fine
Arts at the University of Baghdad.
Mr. Chechen was a protégé and studio assistant to Mohammed Ghani
Hikmet. He was also instrumental in helping Mr. Hikmet execute in
bronze the important national monuments such as the Karamana Fountain
and the Mounument to Hammurabi and Shehrezad and Sharayar on the river
banks of Baghdad.
Mr. Chechen lived and studied in Baghdad during a time of artistic
renaissance in Iraq. The 60¹ and 70¹s was a time of a flowering of
great, creative talent and important artistic achievements by dozens of
highly trained fine artists. During this time, Baghdad was an art mecca
producing artists of great scope and depth.
In 1973, Mr. Chechen participated in the Exhibition of the Cultural
Conference of Arab Nations that was held in Baghdad. In 1975, he
participated in the Exhibition of the Iraqi Sculptors Union. Then in
1981, Mr. Chechen came to the US to pursue his Masters of Fine Arts
degree at Pratt Institute.
Mr. Chechen founded the Fine Art Studios Sculpture Center in Orange
County, NY which operates both a year round series of workshops for
adults as well as a bronze casting foundry. He is also co-founder of the
Hudson Valley Sculptors Society. Mr. Chechen has exhibited locally,
nationally and internationally. He has been awarded numerous awards,
scholarships and honors. He has completed commissions for
clients in the Near East, Europe and US. He also works with
architects, designers and art consultants to create work for public
parks, corporate headquarters and private residences. His work is in
collections both abroad and in the US. Mr. Chechen has over 85
collectors who have purchased his work. For the past twenty-six years,
Mr. Chechen has been exhibiting throughout the New York metropolitan
region, the Hudson Valley and out west.
After the invasion in 2003, he went back to find his family after
an absence of 23 years The occasion was bittersweet and at times
searing for Mr Chechen. Several sisters¹ husbands had died in the war,
his brother lost his foot and his nephew a leg. Many friends had died.
Mr. Chechen has relatives in both his hometown of Kirkuk and Baghdad,
where he spent his university days. His mother, five sisters , two
brothers and their children are experiencing many hardships now. They
are in dire need of help to feed their children as well as themselves
and to avoid being evicted from their homes.
Coming back from Iraq, Mr. Chechen said he was constantly thinking
about how and what he could do to help . It was then , the idea came to
him to make sculpture in honor of his family and friends , to sell them
and send the proceeds back home to help them
Proceeds of the current benefit show on view now at he Pomegranate
Gallery will be used to send humanitarian assistance to his family in
Kirkuk and Baghdad as well as to send a donation to the Turkmen
Institute.
The reception was held on Friday May 18 from 6-8 pm and was well
attended by an enthusiastic crowd. The exhibit has been on view from May
12-May 19 and will close on Sunday May 20.
The Pomegranate Gallery is located at 133 Greene Street. Gallery Hours
are from 11-6 Tuesday Sunday. Phone (212) 260-4014.
The artist website is www.thefineartsstudio.com
You can also Google "Najim Chechen"
info@turkmeninstitute.org
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