HASTINGS.- Following on from his major retrospective at Tate Modern in 2013, Ibrahim El-Salahi will present an exhibition of his Tree works at the Jerwood Gallery in Hastings from the 28 April - 31 May 2015.

This is the first Limelight show at Jerwood Gallery; a new series of month long exhibitions, many of which will bring an international flavour to the gallery.

The eight pen and ink works which will be on display all reflect El-Salahi’s fascination with the Haraza tree – which is indigenous to his homeland Sudan – and which has peculiar and inspirational characteristics.

This series is an ongoing investigation of the tree / body metaphor, a link between heaven and earth, creator and created; controlled meditations with the emphasis on the spiritual.

He says “I am very much obsessed with my work. I am a painter and have no other profession. I go to bed dreaming of figures, forms, and colours and wake up to translate my visions and dreams into works of art. My style changes, but I keep working on one particular theme inspired by a tree, an acacia locally called the Haraza that grows on the banks of the Nile. During the rainy season the tree is leafless, and it blossoms with freshly budding green leaves when the weather turns dry and the river flows at its lowest towards the sea. Through all, the tree remains steadfast, silently watching over the passage of seasons and time."

Of the Haraza’s blooming he says “This is a definitive statement. Like saying ‘I am me! I am an individual! I do not follow what everyone is doing! When everyone is going to be green, let them be green. I am not!’ It’s individuality. I love that very much.”

Born in 1930 in Sudan, Ibrahim El-Salahi is one of the pioneers of the Sudanese and African art movements. In 1954, he left Sudan on a Government scholarship to study at the prestigious Slade School of Fine Art in London, where he became acquainted with Western Modernism. In 1957 he returned to Sudan and accepted a teaching position. After being incarcerated as a political prisoner in 1975-6 he left Sudan, first for Qatar where he acted as advisor to the Qatari Government, and then for the UK. He now lives in Oxford. Throughout his career El-Salahi has held influential positions as a cultural figure, advising governments and the Arab world on cultural policies.
Ibrahim El-Salahi’s work can be found in the collections of MOMA, TATE, Guggenheim, British Museum, National Museum of African Art Washington, and National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne and Newark Museum – firmly cementing his reputation as one of the most important and influential figures in African and Arabic modernism.

Jerwood Gallery Director Liz Gilmore says “We are delighted that we have been offered this opportunity to introduce the work of Ibrahim El-Salahi - who is such an influential, international figure in the art world, bridging the gap between Africa, Arabic and Western Modernism - to new audiences here in Hastings and beyond.”

Limelight: Ibrahim El-Salahi - Haraza will be on display at from 28 April - 31 May 2015.