Chinartree

“Art to me is a decision. It is neither intuition nor inspiration.” Hassan Sharif and the history of conceptual art in the Emirates – January 2009

The embodiment of the archetypal artist, Hassan Sharif is someone who struggled, inspired and ultimately dedicated his life to art.  Hassan states this was not due to some inexplicable mystical inspiration, but more a logical and conscious decision.  He chose to put art before everything else in his life: health, wealth and relationships.  To him, there is no other function as a human being.  Art is not a way of life - art is his life.

When it comes to Hassan’s artwork, he is known for discouraging interpretations or for giving complex explanations.   I wanted to take this opportunity to explore the context within which his work has developed over the years for this is an artist who has truly responded and reacted to his given environment, not only in his artwork but also in his teachings and published works.

His formative years in Europe

As a young Emirati, Hassan travelled to England in 1979 and spent five years opening his mind to different ideas, thoughts and experiences.  He attended a language school in Birmingham and finished a foundation course at Warwickshire College in Leamington Spa before completing a diploma at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London.  This exposure left a profound impact on his intellectual horizon. 

“This period of time was so important for me, I gained a lot of knowledge.    I was surrounded by galleries and museums and so I had a direct insight into what was going on in Europe at the time.  I had the chance to re-think myself.”

Through his formal education Hassan was introduced to a range of contemporary art practices and concepts.  Outside the classroom, he began experimenting with painting, photography and performance art.  It was during this time and with these opportunities that Hassan built the foundations of his understanding of art.  

“I spent time with good friends, other student artists and a very important teacher, Tam Giles.  She was head of department and over three years showed me that she was not interested in my technical skill but in my concepts.  I’m lucky I had the opportunity and the ability to realise and understand what conceptual art is. I began using photographs as tools for experimenting with.  It was the beginning of my conceptual work. So that is the path that I went through and the one I am still following.”

The significance of the art historical context

The early 80s was a time when a neo-expressionist revival was taking place in Europe, particularly in Germany, Italy and France.  Many artists turned towards ‘new image painting’ as it was known, including those in England.  

“My work was neither against nor part of neo-expressionism.  It wasn’t an expression of any kind.  In this way I was like the artist Gerhard Richter, who was a painter in the 1950s and remained a painter through abstract expressionism, conceptual and minimal art.” 

Whilst Europe returned to painting, America had already explored concepts of mass-production and consumerism through Pop art and was moving towards Minimalism and Conceptual art.  It was these art theories and movements that formed the background to Hassan’s own development as an artist.

“I first understood what minimal art was through Joseph Kosuth’s article published in 1969, called ‘art after the philosophy’.  I felt the 80s was the right time for me to realise and experiment with conceptual and minimal art.
All of the movements before me influenced my works.  I understood and absorbed them all.  However I have not been part of any classification or dogma.  Somewhere in this process I found myself.  In the end I can say I am standing on great shoulders and that’s why I feel confident.”

The enthused artist returns home

Hassan returned to the Emirates in 1984, infused and invigorated.  He quickly set about founding an Atelier for the arts in Sharjah, supported by the Department of Information and Culture as well as helping to form the Emirates Fine Arts Society.

“I came back and immediately made some great friends who were writers, poets and young artists.  We worked in an atelier where we began painting and creating performances.  We held exhibitions in the Sharjah Souk.  We were all young, we had lots of things to say and no time to waste!” 

Hassan’s path was set for exploration and experimentation as he was determined to produce contemporary art in all its forms.  However, the audience did not always respond to his art work at the time.  Hassan’s innovative answer to this was to begin publishing articles on art and teaching.

“At the time people were rejecting what I was doing and I knew what the gap was.  It was in the understanding.  So I don’t blame people.  I published more than 100 articles in the newspapers about what I was doing and about other artists, such as Henri Matisse, Paul Klee and Marcel Duchamp.  I also taught young artists, showed them slides of other artists and held symposiums.”

But then in 2003, a radical change in thinking meant that society finally began to accept Hassan and his art work.  “The 2003 Sharjah Biennial changed the artistic landscape of the UAE.  It was totally different as it was taken over by Hoor Al Qassimi.  She is the daughter of Sheikh Sultan Al Qassimi and had studied art at The Royal Academy of Art in England.  This Biennial, curated by Peter Lewis, was a big shock for society and it made them remember what I had been doing since the 80s.” 

Almost 25 years on, things are very different in the UAE.  With the establishment of The Flying House in 2007, founded by his brother Abdul Raheem, Hassan and his contemporaries have a platform on which they can establish themselves and become recognized.

“We are a group of five artists that have been together since 1985 and we are very active. The others are Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Hussain Sharif, Mohammed Kazem and Abdulla Al Saadi.  Now we are very comfortable with what we are doing - we don’t have to struggle anymore.  This period of fighting was good but now we have come to a stage where we cannot be ignored!  We are strong.”

Hassan Sharif today

On spending time with Hassan, one gets the impression that a lifetime is not enough for this prolific artist to express himself.  For over thirty years Hassan has been experimental and progressive in his approach. 

“Today I was painting and I said to myself ‘I am able to paint a painting that has not yet been painted before so I should.’   Art to me is a decision. It is neither intuition nor inspiration that drives me.  I have no time to wait for inspiration!”

Hassan Sharif is certainly one of the most productive artists I have ever encountered (easily rivaling contemporaries such as M F Husain) and is constantly reverting to previously explored methods or materials in a new way.  His recent works include large scale oil paintings, metal installations and of course his famous mixed media ‘objects’.  I ask him about his latest return to painting.

“Over the last two years I have re-explored and concentrated on paintings.  For me painting is not a field through which you show people images on a canvas.  Knowing how to make a painting is complex, it’s totally different to knowing how to draw and how to paint.  You first have to understand what painting is in the 21st century.” 

He explains further, “I make objects so when I paint, I say I am making a painting.  I am cultivating.  I am cultivating people’s way of thinking…the psychology of the society.  It is do with culture and agriculture.  You don’t paint a tree, you grow a tree.  I feel painting is very close to this.  It is a very basic, initial part of being an artist.  I never stopped painting.  I am an artist.  I am a painter.”