Ali Jabbar’s second exhibition at Hay Hill Gallery is a collection of his new works and works exhibited previously. His works are presented with two other Iraqi artists Ala Bashir and Hani Mazhar.

First studying in Baghdad, then at the KKA Design School Copenhagen, Ali Jabbar - the painter and the sculptor - has developed a particular style that will question the viewer’s perception of reality.

Based on the artist’s understanding of the world we live in, the paintings are a combination of fiction and facts that contradict each other. Jabbar’s characters never reveal their secrets, but hide underneath masks of seduction and deep contemplation. The empty, hollow eyes of these masks remind us of Ancient Mesopotamian sculptures, while the accessories that dress the broken bodies are controversially very contemporary.

Over curious backgrounds, we see patterned corsets covering a rose tattooed back, legs in bondage stockings and a horse-woman wearing heeled boots. Like an Annunciation paintings, a golden haired angel approaches a hooded and masked figure in her bed. The attention to details and dark colours underline the seriousness of the paintings, meant to take us in a journey of discovery and thought.

Ali Jabbar is a painter, sculptor and designer currently residing in London. Born in Iraq in 1963, the artist lived in Denmark from 1992-2009 and now has Danish citizenship. He studied at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad (1982-1987), at the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad (1987-1990) and the KKA Design School in Copenhagen, Denmark, commencing his career in art in 1985. During 1985-2009 he created 20 large public monuments in many countries around the world and participated in the Baghdad International Biennale; the Cairo Painting Biennale; the Tehran Painting Biennale; the Grand Palais Biennial in Paris; and the Sharja International Biennial. He also participated in 85 group exhibitions across Denmark, Iraq, Sweden, Austria, Jordan, Egypt, UAE, Libanon, Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, France, USA, Iran, Spain, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Bahrain, and Norway.