Iraqi Mosaic will feature paintings and silkscreens by Thamer Dawood. Dawood was born in Baghdad 1966, and received his diploma from the Fine Arts Institute in Baghdad in 1986, and a Bachelor’s Degree from the College of Fine Arts, Baghdad in 2000. He is a member of Plastic Artists Society in Baghdad, a member of Iraqi Scribers Association in Baghdad and a member of the Iraqi Artists Association in US & Canada USA. His works have been displayed widely around the Middle East and around the world, and since his arrival to the United States in 2008, has participated in several group exhibition and public works projects.

Says Salah Abbas, “For over two decades, Thamer Dawood practiced the art of painting, achieving for himself, many works of arts giving the impression in the ability and capability of this artist, by engaging in the areas of painting, with deep understanding of colors and lines, and also his knowledge of the history of general art, particularly contemporary Iraqi plastic modern art.

Thamer Dawood has grabbed all the constituents of building the new painting, with a clever and wary view so that his summaries seem a search for a new good thing. The devotion of the artist to his work, has truly assured him of the favorable style with modernistic vision, which can be added to the promising artistic experiments within the area of the contemporary Iraqi plastic arts scenery. It encompasses truthfulness in performance and truthfulness in comprehension. In view of the Artist’s special sense of the art, the artist can live with it daily more than he does with his family. The sum total of his artistic experiment never parts with deep sense of closeness to the arts and the distinguished artist in Iraq. The friends of artist Thamer Dawood also know that he is a professional of silkscreen printing in a manually and artistic way. The division of the artist’s efforts in the fields of design, printing and painting made him an all encompassing artist fully aware of the hidden aspects of the plastic art.”

Included in the exhibition will be works by Iraqi artists Nory Al Rawoy, Kudher Al Shakrche, Wedad Al Orfaly, Ismael Fatah, Muhr Aldeen, Asem Abd Alamer, Kareem Sadoon, Hashem Hanoon, Amer Khalel.

Iraqi Mosaic is curated by Thamer Dawood.

Also on view: Contemporary Iraqi Art from the gallery collection.

Oded Halahmy, an Iraqi American sculptor and four-decade year resident of SoHo founded the Pomegranate Gallery as a catalyst for international artistic dialogue. “As an artist born in Baghdad, it is very exciting for me to bring works by contemporary Iraqi artists to New York City,” explains Halahmy. As an artist whose modernist sculptures appear in the Guggenheim, the Hirschhorn, and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Halahmy offers compelling reasons and uncanny ability to introduce Americans to serious artistic initiatives from the Middle East. “Americans are becoming increasingly international in their art collecting.” But Halahmy also hopes that his gallery “will serve as a cultural ambassador to awaken American consciousness of Middle Eastern Art.” Baghdad, the cradle of civilization, has historically been viewed as the cultural capitol of the Middle East and primary innovator in the fine arts. The fact that the artists of Baghdad continued to create at the height of the insurgency is nothing short of astounding.

Future exhibitions will continue to feature innovative contemporary art from all of the countries of the Middle East. In addition to contemporary visual art, he has featured readings by authors and poets, as well as musical performances, dance and film. “Although we are all from different ethnic groups, our objective is to encourage all forms of art as an effective long-term means of fostering the peace dialogue. If we all recognize that the arts can be a powerful unifier of disparate cultures, the chance for peace in Iraq, the Middle East, and around the world will be greatly enhanced,” says Halahmy.