Face

Bringing his background in both painting and sculpture to bear, Ismail Fattah presents his series of confrontational faces through a richly expressive and experimental treatment of line and colour. In Face, produced in 1995, he portrays emotions through layered, vibrant colours that reflect complex states of mind. Warm orange hues on the left contrast with muted greys on the right. Meanwhile, blended tones on the cheeks and lips, along with the falling drips of colour, heighten emotional tension, instability and confusion, arguably reflecting the unstable sociopolitical environment of Iraq at the time.