São Paulo – Artist Hilal Sami Hilal’s latest exhibition is open at the Marilia Razuk Gallery, in São Paulo. A Brazilian descendent of Syrians, Hilal creates his artwork using material produced by himself. Aside from using unique compositions, the artist has the trademark of always portraying relationships in his work. Even if the feeling is shown in an abstract manner.
"If you give me a bed cloth, a torn cloth that won’t be used anymore, I will cut the cotton fabric into thin strips, mix pulp and water and, once it dries, I will create my work on the paper. The piece of work will bear your name because your gesture stuck to my memory," the artist exemplifies.
In his latest exhibition, "Território do possível" (Territory of the possible), Hilal works with the image of his father. Not only his father, but also a less "concrete" father, a father who does not match the "basic" notions of prohibition and protection that a father represents to his son.
"It is about the absence of the father in modernity. Science tries to find a way, but is unable to. Religion is also unable to take the place of the father, and so is the government. What is left is psychoanalysis, philosophy and art. These are segments that do not set forth absolute dogmas," he says.
Hilal claims that the Arab culture has influenced the poetics of his art. "The issue of exile, the lack of a native country, of the ‘voluntary’ exile of those who have come to Brazil is an influence. In the past, immigrants had problems with prejudice" he says. "Family is crucial for us Arab descendents. My life is my family. I cannot face the fact that I am far from my children, my family."
Hilal admits that his artwork may look sad. But he seeks to make up for the melancholy through the frequent use of colour. "I find the colour blue to be stimulating and I use it a lot," he says. As for materials, paper and copper are recurrent in his projects.
With a needle, he draws and writes on a paraffin sheet. Then he covers the paraffin with the paper pulp and the paint. Approximately three days later, the paper and ink are dry, and are removed from the paraffin sheet. The designs made on the sheet and the paint that leaked through its grooves turns to reliefs on paper. The use of the technique is not occasional. "I have always enjoyed working with watercolour and engraving, and the technique is derived from these procedures," says Hilal.
He learned to make paper pulp in 1977 and perfected his knowledge in two trips to Japan. "There, I visited workshops dating back over 600 years," he recollects. A painter who uses oil paint creates what is known as an "oil painting." "I make paper on paraffin."
His use of copper is more recent. He started working with the metal in the year 2000. In the same way that he makes drawings on paraffin sheets, he imprints his creations on a thin copper sheet. The sheet is then immersed in an acid solution. After a few seconds, he removes the copper sheet from the acid and hangs it to dry. All of the artwork on display at the Marilia Razuk gallery is recent. The oldest ones date back to 2007.
18th century sculptors, for instance, used a "finished" raw material, bronze, which was then sculpted. Hilal "creates" part of the material that he uses in his work, but does not abandon his Arab roots in the themes of his art.
Service
The exhibition "Território do possível", by Hilal Sami Hilal, will continue until April 23rd at the Marilia Razuk gallery, on Rua Jerônimo da Veiga, 131B, in the Jardim Europa neighbourhood. From Mondays through Fridays from 10:30 am to 07:00 pm, and on Saturdays from 11:00 am to 03:00 pm. For information, call (+55 11) 3079-0853. Entrance is free.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum