The Oman-Based Artist Depicts the Mexican Story in Vibrant Colors
“So I take inspiration from life and people around the world because when you strip the obvious layer of division, we all are the same with the same dreams, same struggles, and same values. It is this human struggle and strife that I love capturing on my canvas.” - Gailani
INTERVIEW WITH THE ARTIST GAILANI
Artist GAILANI
From the artist’s archives
LES COULEURS: Thank you for the generous donation of your work of art “I Will Persevere” Please tell us the story behind this work of art.
GAILANI: The painting is inspired by a Mexican-American man called Fabian Meraz who came to America from Mexico as a young teenager and had several struggles as he was alone and didn’t have a support system. He joined the U.S Military and served in Afghanistan. He returned as a Veteran with severe PTSD. He got into a deep depression and drugs. He then decided to change his life around and overcame addiction and became a fashion model based in L.A. He inspired this painting which is about rising from the ashes and overcoming the flames of the past with resolve and determination. In the face, I wanted to show his focus to put his life back on track, but in his eyes, I wanted to show the sadness of the past that haunts and pains him. The flames in the background have words graffiti on them stating “I will persevere, I will rise, I will shine”
LC: Our mission at Les Couleurs as a charity organization under our program CREATE is to inspire, educate, and empower. How do you relate to this mission? Do you think art is something that you can educate on or it comes from exclusively exceptional talent?
G: I strongly believe in the mission of Les Couleurs to inspire, educate, and empower. This is the value that I used for myself, my art journey was through battling my demons of darkness that was to overcome childhood sexual abuse and resulting self-inflicted alcohol abuse that I used art to heal my wounds and then started the “Gailani Art Retreats” in Oman. These retreats were creative get-away escapes that used painting, music, and meditation to address challenging chapters of participants. With over 900 participants over 5 years in Oman, their retreats address topics of letting go, sexual violence, bullying, personal freedom using art in a safe environment. We then used the paintings created in showcase exhibitions to highlight how non-artists such as teaches, doctors, and musicians used art to heal and inspire others with their stories.
We are all born artists with creativity, it's just that the world keeps telling us that we can’t be an artist, and keep badgering us that we aren’t good enough. Pablo Picasso famously said that the artist is the child who survived when he said “every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
LC: You create in Oman but exhibit worldwide. How much of does your home country inspire, feature in your art? do you believe your art could make Oman a destination for art lovers?
G: I’m an Oman-based artist of Pakistani - Afghani & Iraqi origin, the middle-east, and the Indian subcontinent cultures flow in my blood. But I am also a product of today's global awareness and social media which brings all people and cultures together from Argentina to Fiji Islands onto your devices. So I take inspiration from life and people around the world because when you strip the obvious layer of division, we all are the same with the same dreams, same struggles, and same values. It is this human struggle and strife that I love capturing on my canvas.
Oman is where I started my art career, it is my home and one of the most beautiful peace-loving oases of culture, hospitality, and tradition that inspires me every day to go into my studio and create. But art is art, I feel should not be defined by the origin of the artist or his passport, but rather what it makes the viewer feel. That's what I attribute to the global appeal of my art because it doesn’t have a biased point of view - it is global like we all are global citizens.
Oman is a beautiful venue for art and nature lovers, with the desert, the mountains, the wadis (rivers), fjords and lakes, and above all the most hospitable people that makes it unique in a region that often struggles with peace.
GAILANI
Love Letters to Frida No.2
Acrylic on canvas
130 x 150 cm
52 x 62 in
GAILANI
Love Letters to Frida No.3
Acrylic on canvas
130 x 150 cm
52 x 62 in
LC: How did it all start? when did you realize you want to create above all else?
G: My earliest memory was that of painting from the age of 6 that’s all I wanted to do. it was what fed my soul. However, my family was traditional and didn’t want me to pursue my art and asked me to go to a business school and get a professional career. I did that for many years rising the corporate ladder of the banking industry, and I felt quite a hallow and it was the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo story, that I came across and her works reignited the fire in me, so at a much later age of 35 I started to paint again, and hence I paint so many Frida Kahlo and my self-portraits as I feel her soul guide me through my art. Hence this charity and this cause feel like such a full-circle, I was inspired to paint through the story of a Mexican artist, the subject I painted was of a Mexican born man’s struggles, and that piece to be used by a charity for underprivileged children of Mexico is a full-circle moment for me . . . it is surreal for me!
LC: Now, your global connection to Miami - how did you exhibit for the first time, what brought you to Miami?
G: Well, the journey started when I exhibited in Art Vancouver Canada, and won the “Best International Artist Exhibitor” Award, and was featured in the magazine for the Art Show. Steidel Fine Arts that was showing at Red Dot Miami during the Art Basel week 2018 booked me for their International curated artist's collection. So I had never been to Miami and to showcase my art there in one of the big venues seemed like a dream and was thrilled to be part of it. The love and appreciation I received from art patrons and the artist fraternity in Miami has been overwhelming and a true honor.
GAILANI
I will Persevere
Acrylic on canvas
130 x 150 cm
52 x 62 in
LC: Your Instagram bio says “Where Pop and Street Art Collide on Canvas” - that is a very dynamic description, very appealing. What made you choose that direction?
G: Well, I was always inspired by pop-art and vibrant colors and I had the privilege of participating in the Athens Art Fair and during my time in Greece I saw so much street graffiti of protests and struggles. That struck a chord on me, and I was painting a piece of how we saw the world and I painted a piece titled “Hermes is Sleeping” depicting the Greek God Hermes who is the son of Zeus and the God of travelers and trade. Since Greece was struggling with the migrant crisis and a severe recession, I painted words of protest that I had heard and seen on to the painting, mixing the street with the pop-art. That became something that I felt was a powerful message. Street graffiti has now evolved into brilliant art that the Wynwood Art District is a shining example of success, but I was more drawn to the earlier rudimentary form of graffiti when it was words on the wall to highlight struggle, and that's where I draw my inspiration.
LC: What advice would you give to art students?
G: My biggest advice is to be authentic and true to your point of view. Don’t change to please what the world would like you to become because the viewers can always see if one is “faking it”. And work hard on your craft. Creativity energy needs to be channeled and developed, it needs the practice to find that most authentic voice, and once you find it, not compromise on it. What sets an artist apart is a distinct point of you, so develop your artist statement, so that the story behind the piece has the clarity to put your unique point of view across to resonate with the world at large.
LC: What are you working on now?
G: I’m working on a unique collaboration with an Israeli artist on “stories of women”. It's a unique collaboration that instead of focusing on what divides the woman of my culture and Muslim heritage and the Israeli Jewish culture, chooses to have a dialogue of the aspirations and challenges that unite us. We aim to show that although our passports don’t allow us to travel to each other’s countries, our art can unite what travel documents try to stop. We hope to take it on a global tour and showcase a message of peace to a challenging history of mistrust and violence.
GAILANI
Victory at Any Cost
Acrylic on canvas
100 x 120 cm
GAILANI
Modern Liberty
Acrylic on canvas
120 x 130 cm
