In the Press

Samer Kurdi: In a League of His own
JO Magazine, December 2003
Words Sima Zureikat

With a distinctive look, style and texture to his work, Samer Kurdi is generally regarded as one of the most talented young artists at work in Jordan today.

Sitting easy in the company of a house so obviously lived in by a highly aesthetically aware person, I sat with painter Samer Kurdi in his quaint Jebel Weibdeh home. Refurbished used furniture with a look and finish that could have easily come out of an Ikea catalogue adorn the rooms. Paintings grace the walls, both his own and works by fellow local painters. The colors and contrasts in the space itself are reminiscent of his works. His paintings were the topic of my interest, his life as an artist so readily apparent in our setting.

Samer's personality isn't necessarily one of the eccentric artist. His words are well thought out, his demeanor is polite and slightly reserved. There's a tension in speech patterns as if his thoughts are continually split in two opposing directions. As we sat, I realized that the space we occupied was a room reserved for visitors; as in most homes, the residents live more to the inside. His personal hole, where much of his time is spent, a small room, baby-proofed and seemingly carved out of the wall, lies in the corner of the house. A hub of software, computer whizzing, and personal files, arranged and surprisingly well-organized in an unlikely space.

Perhaps this introspective side of Samer stems from the same source as his double major in psychology and philosophy from Boston University in the States. In 1992, somewhat by chance while in college, Samer happened upon an advertisement for summer art and drawing courses. As fate would have it, even Samer himself was surprise at his apparent innate talents. He continued taking art courses and after university went on to work and exhibit locally in the Boston area. His location, even then, was prime for his creative development. Close to New York art Galleries, local book houses and libraries, Samer soaked up the creative edge the Western art scene had to offer before returning to Jordan .

Later during our meeting, Samer took me into another room that housed his prized art library. There in an old and esteemed wooden bookshelf, a personal treasure of art catalogues and books that took over ten years to compile rested on-call. The names printed on the side cover sleeves each stood out with significance. Samer's exposure to Western art movements and deep appreciation of art history is evident in the sophistication and growing maturity of his work. Among his influences are Alberto Giacometti, Frank Auerbach and Egon Schiele. With excitement and pride, Samer contined to feed me page after page of inspired art material, and I ate it up. Aside from being predominantly figurative, within the work of the various artists there seemed to be one common thread that even Samer himself shares: a struggle of something to be seen, always something hidden, yet trying to reveal itself.

“I thought painting must be ‘just what I do'. I know now, however, that the reason why I paint is simply that I am in love with the medium; the way it captures emotion, the way it becomes an extension to the body in how it mirrors its movements and gestures, and the way it records history in its texture and its layers””

Samer's painterly style is thick and highly textured, expressive, bold, even somewhat aggressive with occasional scratches and strong, broad brushstrokes. This comes to a stark contrast behind his mild-mannered husband/father daytime persona. It is curious where these two aspects converge; maybe it is the heavy black outlines defining the forms in his paintings that present the line between what is controlled and what falls to chaos. The abstract lines of paint almost carve out each structure from the canvas ether. The monochromatic palate of colors is refreshingly stained with splashes of bright pink and oranges to further pull the subjects from the foreground.

“I love the randomness and unexpected events that happen but still being able to control them in a way.”

While Samer's painting style falls under the art traditions of the West, the subject matter of Samer's works are unmistakably Jordanian, as they are taken from local like, places, and people. One of his best-known oeuvres centers around the Arab League Café located centrally in the balad , near Samer's art studio. Inspired by the local patrons found writing or reading books by themselves, the imagery focuses on the chairs and impersonal figures that occupy the café and simultaneously present a very public and very private space. “Painters invariably paint space, and in painting the private and public spaces in a downtown café, I like to think that I am also painting something about our culture and about who we are.”

When looking at the work, one can easily place himself into the space. The viewer becomes the lone patron as the vacant seats beckon your occupancy and the image draws you in. A sense of solitariness creeps into the empty spaces around the forms and the viewer is absorbed into his own private sphere.

“More than the subject matter of the work, I am drawn to the paint itself – its texture, its accumulated history of layers and gestures, and the random events that occur on the canvas. I believe it is the paint which, after all, makes the painting more than just a picture and renders it an object that is immediate and personal in its nature.”

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