Phone: 618/453-3019
Email: mekka@siu.edu
Office location: Allyn Building 5A
Najjar Abdul-Musawwir was born October 25th, 1958, in Chicago, Illinois. He is an internationally acknowledged artist who has exhibited throughout the United States, Africa, Asia and Europe. He currently works as an Associate Professor of studio arts and art history in the School of Art and Design and Africana Studies at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
He has received distinguish and prestigious acknowledgments, and among them are: first Artist-n-Residency/exhibition for the N'Namdi Center for Contemporary Art in Detroit, invitational Artist-n-Residency/exhibition by the Tuanku Fauziah Museum and Gallery in Malaysia, commissioned to create a piece for the Visions of Our 44th President travelling exhibition hosted by Charles H. Wright Museum in Detroit, Rickert Ziebold Trust Awardee, Judge William Holmes Cook Professorship Endowment, and was invited by the MacAuthur Foundation in Chicago as a member of an Illinois artists' consulting team.
Najjar's works illustrate culture, faith, and history through abstract language. He uses different materials as a metaphor for the human experience; and thus, he abstracts material to discuss our abstract existence. His paintings are harmonious visions of contrasting colors, flowing liquefaction, and symbolic transparency. Najjar is known for using burlap sacks/material in his paintings. He consider it a profound and puissant symbol, the idea of burlap exploiting the surface, which speaks to the power of harvesting the spiritual experiences of the human-will – past, present, and beyond the 21st century.
Najjar's philosophical thoughts:
Research – Look for what is not evident and see possibilities.
Service – Helping other is without doubt the helping of self.
Teaching – Educate others perchance they understand the message better than me; they become the teacher and me the student.
Links:
nnamdicenter.org
wsiu.org/video
wsiu.org/infocusarchive
www.wttw.com
visionsofour44thpresident.com
visionsofour44thpresident-reception
blackartistnews.blogspot.com
blackartinamerica.com/profile
hasnulsaidon.blogspot.com
news.siu.edu/news
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