Is your art your only source of income?

Indeed, as my work reveals the reality of the tragic reality of ‘Man’. My works of art really don’t harmonize with the decor of the average house … This, is why I resort to another world to live.  My main income is from graphic art, that I have practiced for years. I have found that art that tricks the politician and only gets the artist into trouble.

Le Viel Homme,  Solitaire, Oil on canvas, 2017

Your current work is of people against imposing backgrounds.  Comment.

This current body of work comes and has inhabited my space, and now fills it.   It has Invaded my art is confronting too!

The purpose of this work is to initiate an awareness. Beginning with a question, that starts from the intimate.  I hope it will lead the viewer to question the place of man, in his dignity, to stand, to resist.  A “worn body” opens the way to a striking presence. It’s sometimes a “lonely” character that reminds me of the darkness of modern life.

Woman with Trolley, Oil on canvas, 70 x 90cm, 2019

My realistic vision is at the heart of the work. Showing the relationships between a number, of concepts, to highlight the features that are absent while attempted to get close to reality.

I want to give a clearer picture of everyday reality within the recesses of work.

Take two paintings one of an old person and one a young person, discuss the complexities of each.

The body of my works is an iconic sign which depicts in its meanings and its semantic dimensions traits of oppression, persecution, symbolic crime and dream confiscation. … An embarrassing image which reflects the internal alienation which eats away our common aesthetic.

Letter À Ma Fille, Oil on canvas – 100 X 70cm 2017

Between a painting inhabited by a young body and the other by an old man dragging with his last steps towards dusk. Understanding the sequence of life and its turning points.  Sometimes reflect its truth, full of happiness, sometimes its truth filled with pain. Alas, now I find myself both standing and perplexed in front of these two contradictory situations. The beginning and the end of life. I mean to represent them not only in the juvenile face of a child, but also in those who have already dealt with temporal austerity.  For me, this natural growth or this a journey.

The Weight of Temp, Oil on canvas, 70 x 90cm, 2019

Take a very close look at one painting and explain technically how you have achieved it.

Worn Body, Oil on canvas, 90 x 100cm, 2019

My way of doing art is quite strange, contrary to what I hear about artists. I paint in silence.  I don’t like hearing any musical sound or anything else that would distort my dexterity during this action. My visual memory is enough to take me deeper into the subject, to the point that I wander outside of my time. I remember the miserable people established here and there on the sidewalks. Their face which, refers to a melancholy facial expression and the curvature of their silhouette gives me a venue which is reflected in the movements of my brush.  Reflecting my deep disillusionment with this being (Man). the one who has been marginalized by materialist civilization.

I love painting with oil colors. Since I do not like to draw with insignificance, the colors take time to dry well. This which me to amalgamate colours. Technically and aesthetically.

Autumn Light, Oil on canvas, 100 x 140cm, 2017

Can you give us an inside look into the art world of Algeria?

In reality, the Algerian experience of the arts is still rudimentary. There is the question of failure, non-mastery and the inability to adapt to new artistic trends.

Many, Algerian visual artists – with a few exceptions – have revealed marked weakness and an obvious inability to surpass Western artistic trends that emanating from the quintessence of European art that has prevailed for more than four centuries.

Recently you won an international award with Mondial Art Academy.

How has this changed your current art practice?

Yes, I was awarded the overall gold medal and a silver medal in contemporary figuration at the international competition for art professionals, organized by Mondial Art Academia of France. This reward came in time, just when I was experiencing disappointment. These awards came like a ray of sunshine, urging me to continue my artistic path and my story with colors.

The Absurb, Oil on canvas, 100 x 90cm, 2019

Why do you enter art competitions?

I use competitions as a benchmark to position my art, to assess the technical and philosophical maturity of my work.  This, is why, it makes sense that to me that I should test myself.

Why would you recommend art competitions to young artists?

Younger people should participate in international competitions, to know their artistic level compared to what is happening outside their studio and more broadly their country. The competitions are also a space where all the currents and techniques of artistic expression meet.  It is not necessarily to claim and win any title but to give you balance.

What have you learnt from this process?

This competition made me more confident about the artistic work that I do, which is a creed for me.

How did you decide on a painting to enter?

In fact, all, of my paintings that I love are rooted in the depths of my soul, and I randomly presented this painting to the contest.

Discuss your art training expand on one or two aspects that continue to be very important, still.

I plan to put my own artistic touches full of emotion. To represent art born from my deepest pain and human suffering, which is able to cause in me a real disappointment when I meet the eyes of vulnerable people. I owe this to my visual memory. Images of vagabond people in a pitiful state that I come across during my travels in the alleys of the metropolises which literally dehumanized them.

 Contact:

Abdelhalim Kebieche

flyvision@hotmail.fr

Facebook / kebieche.abdelhalim

Deborah Blakeley, Melbourne, Australia

Interview by Deborah Blakeley, March 2020