Art Visionary manifests art, luxury and culture

Art Visionary, an exhibition correlated by Tashkeil — a social enterprise that facilitates creative pioneers in the Middle East, was inaugurated last Tuesday at Tanween Design Boutique and will be running until May 19, 2014.
“Tashkeil provides a platform to enable creatives to showcase their talents and potentials,” said Sofana Dahla, CEO of Tahkeil. “It aims to design the future and unleash the creative force in the society.”
The exhibition features the works of three eminent artists at the red carpet of platforms, Kayan spaces. Chucrallah Fattouh, an international abstract painter, Zeina Tahan, a philosophical jewelry designer and Sarya Jamal, an ingenious furniture designer came together to showcase their unique collections at Art Visionary.
Lebanese-born Fattouh is well-known for his contemporary paintings in which he blends light and volume and creates contrasting harmony. Since 1985 to date, he has been a prolific artist to host more than 150 collective and personal exhibitions.
The color treatment in most of Fattouh’s paintings is inspired by his observation of Lebanese landscapes.
Being honored with a medal by Queen Elizabeth at one of his recent exhibitions in London, Fattouh boasts about his participation in several international galleries and festivals abroad, including Paris, Cyprus, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Moscow, Montreal, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Cannes, Virginia, Tunisia and Brazil.
The grandstand of Art Visionary is Zeina Tahan’s luxurious jewelry, flaunting their charms from the mannequin hands and necks at the boutique.
Born into a family of jewelry designers, Tahan spent her early days slacking away in pretty gold ornaments but opted to study interior design instead of taking after her elders. Later, she explained, how her desire of personifying her passion triggered the click.
Tahan’s inspiration for jewelry designing comes from religion, philosophy and esotericism. She, then, let the gold that runs in her genes talk, and convey a message. She describes the enthusiasm as, “Heavens showed me the way.”
To Tahan, jewelry simply means happiness and she considers it to be a necessity that gives every woman pleasure and make them feel good.
Featured at Art Visionary are pieces from Tahan’s famous collections namely “Angel”, “Love Yourself”, “Silver & Gold” and “Astrology.”
Art Visionary also boasts the work of Sarya Jamal, whose furniture designs are mostly inspired by her emotions and the culture of her home country Sudan.
Born and raised in Jeddah, Jamal is a graduate of Pharmacy from the University Of Medical Sciences & Technology in Khartoum, Sudan.
“Art was not in my blood,” said Jamal. “The outcome of my work is partly talent and partly what I’ve learnt from watching. Most of my pieces brag the colors of the African culture but the black and white parts in my pieces represent my emotions.”
Jamal featured her “Pieces of Me” collection of furniture representing her journey in Art and Science, in the way that her endeavors in both fields saw her seated on different chairs in various places to read, design and paint, allowing her to contemplate on the lessons life has taught her.
Jamal explained that she initially started painting on canvas. Participating in two exhibitions back at home, she was able to show off her talent in acrylic painting and black ink.
Art Visionary, being Jamal’s first exhibition in Jeddah, has given her a chance to unveil her talents and she hopes to attract more customers and grow her business in the Kingdom.
Tashkeil aims to revive the region’s heritage as an eclectic center for design, art, architecture and culture in hopes of reducing designers’ migration to other locations. As leaders of the creative industry in the Middle East, Tashkeil created Tanween Design Boutique to serve as a platform to showcase the work of independent Middle Eastern designers in an exclusive showroom.
Each event is hosted by different sponsors around Jeddah, to give them an opportunity to engage the local creative community and enable budding creative talents, which reside in this industrious city, a forum to promote their talent and enjoy other people’s work.
Art Visionary exhibition is open to visitors at Tanween Design Boutique at Shatea District in Jeddah until May 19 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

• [email protected]