Basil Alkazzi

Basil Alkazzi
باسل القزي
Born
Basil Hamed Alkazzi

1938 (age 86–87)
at sea near Kuwait
Other namesBasil al-Kazzi
EducationCentral School of Art
MovementMetaphysical painting
Websitewww.basilalkazzi.com

Basil Alkazzi (Arabic: باسل القزي; born 1938), is Kuwait-born British visual artist, of Saudi Arabian–Kuwaiti heritage. As a painter he is known for metaphysical and spiritual abstract paintings.[1][2] He has lived in London and New York City.[1]

Biography

Basil Alkazzi was born in 1938, on a ship in the sea traveling from Kuwait to Britain.[3] His father Hamed Ali Alkazzi, was a merchant and from an Arab family.[4] In early childhood, he was artistic and interested in the arts. Alkazzi attended the Central School of Art in London.[5]

In the 1960s, Alkazzi worked with the human figure as a subject; and after painting for many years, the figure appeared to stretch out into the skyline or became unrecognizable forms.[6]

“pure forms, geomorphic and biomorphic, became emblematic of spirit in action [of Alkazzi's work]— pure spirit in Kandinsky’s sense of being possessed by ‘inner necessity’…”

He had a solo exhibition in 1989 at the Springfield Art Center in Springfield, Illinois.[2] His solo exhibition, "An Odyessy of Dreams" (2014) was curated by Judith K. Brodsky and displayed at the Sheldon Museum of Art in Lincoln, Nebraska.[1]

In 1986, he established the Basil Alkazzi Scholarship at the Royal College of Art in London; and a year later in 1987, established the Basil H. Alkazzi Award for young and emerging American painters.[3] Through the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), Alkazzi established in 2010 two biennial awards.[3]

Collections and archives

His work is in museum collections, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City;[7] the Art Institute of Chicago;[8] the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis;[9] the Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase, New York;[10] and at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.[11] His artist files can be found at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Library and Archives, and the Smithsonian American Art and Portrait Gallery Library.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Beautiful paintings explore the spiritual at Sheldon". Lincoln Journal Star. July 13, 2014. pp. D6. Retrieved 2024-06-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b Hays, Jim (1989-03-13). "Artist seeks to explore spiritual themes". Springfield News-Sun. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-06-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d "Through color and biomorphic forms, artwork at Rider University evokes the spirit". WHYY-TV PBS. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  4. ^ Wykes-Joyce, Max (1982). The Art of Basil Alkazzi. Drian Galleries. p. 5.
  5. ^ Art and Artists. Hansom Books. 1984. p. 34.
  6. ^ Alkazzi, Basil; Kuspit, Donald Burton (2013). Basil Alkazzi: An Odyssey of Dreams : a Decade of Paintings 2003-2012. Scala. ISBN 978-1-85759-876-6.
  7. ^ "Basil Alkazzi, Transmutation III". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  8. ^ "Basil Alkazzi". The Art Institute of Chicago. 1938. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  9. ^ "Voyage into Remembrance". Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  10. ^ "Artist Provides Major Gift to Fund NEU Acquisitions". Purchase College. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  11. ^ "Basil Alkazzi". The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Retrieved 2024-06-24.