The Strangeness of ‘The Martyr’ Fawzi Swei’s Artistic Background
Fawzi Swei is a serious and devoted painter, who displays great sensitivity and who is aware of the transitory nature of fame. He has made the choice to be reserved and modest, sometimes to the point of invisibility. I got to know Fawzi when he worked in the fine arts department. On his long route he gained experience in applying his artistic techniques and also enriched his knowledge through the study of film production. Fawzi Swei used the technique of hyper-realism in order to implement his ideas. He made intensive use of light and shadow and was very perceptive of all objects in their surroundings. He begins his work process with pen or charcoal, but even his sketches are not lacking in seriousness. Fawzi Swei is not an artist who has ever hurried, but who selects his subjects with the same unending care that he applies to all his work.
In this exhibition the painter shows some of his works with oil and acrylic. One of the pieces, entitled ‘The Martyr’, shows an ammunition belt, but it is the picture of a Moujahed as a martyr. Every external effect was omitted out of respect for the martyr. His picture is surrounded by a wooden frame, which hangs on an old wall. Close by you can hear the ballads of the Djihad, verses by the poet from Houn, Fatima Othman, and refrains from the poem ‘Al Aguila’.
Another work portrays a pair of sandals, painted in absolute neutrality. A pair of sandals that does not portray the passion of the march, the exile and the wandering. It seems as if the cobbler made them especially as the model for this picture. These sandals know nothing of the changes in the administration movements, nothing of the routine punishment which would otherwise wear out sandals and shoes. These are well looked after sandals, from another time.
Another picture with the title ‘Memory’ is full of intimate memories. It includes a room and parts of a picture – simple allusions, which are not revealed any further. Other motifs can be seen in the corner of a kitchen or in dealing with a vegetable trader.
These are pictures that could be described as cold. We see an artist who expresses himself with a sharpened spirit. You might ask yourself: is he painting things because he likes them? Is it irony? Or is this his art, making us aware of triviality? Fawzi Swei is an objective artist, who discredits neither objects nor people. His works bear witness to a great seriousness. His work, in particular his portrait paintings, sometimes give the impression that they are photographs.
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