“As I enrolled into the Academy of Arts of Brera, Milano, thanks to the leading expertise of Alberto Garutti, my professor, I soon understood I could have done nothing in my life, but ART”
This is probably all you need to know to acknowledge Omar Hassan’s unparalleled enthusiasm. Relentlessly busy making good art with a good purpose and a core mission, Omar defines what he does as emotionally strong, synthetic, and most of all metaphysical.
We at Visual Atelier 8 decided to interview him to share his overload of positive energy. Coming from a background at the Academy of the Arts of Brera, he entered London’s vibrant artistic hub for a while, where he learned the veiled dynamics and intricate connections of the art market.
From there, his career boomed ad flew him to the United States, yet his kind-heartedness makes you forget his standpoint and creates a natural attraction to what he thoughtfully crafts. Omar finds inspiration in everything that concerns life. Everything that surrounds him, drives him; and as he gives life to his artworks, life pays him off with relentless influences.
All his canvases are part of a dynamic process. Being a boxer, Omar punches most of his canvases to craft his reality from scratches. It is all about the movement. The artist, compared to Pollock on many occasions, imbues his oeuvre with vital energy and transmits everything on the canvas. By literally punching the canvas, he turns his lively performance into action painting.
All the artworks he creates come with a video showing the entire process behind it, and only the collector will avail from it. There is more to it than canvases. Omar loves both painting and sculptures to create a dialogue in between. Yet, despite involving mixed media and techniques, there is a silver lining connecting all the dots behind his works.
The fil rouge for Omar’s oeuvre is “time”. Time is to Omar an invisible consistent motif that he keeps on trying to track, as in his ultimate series Time Lines. This series, consisting of exclusive pieces, stems from working on the wall directly and titling the work accordingly with the start and end date of the project. “
Art is what I live for, therefore all I do, I do it for my artworks. That is why I am trying to convey meaning through all the time I spend making art. And attribute meaning to time in return.” He values the uniqueness of what he does just as much as he values individuality. On multiple levels, Omar explores the theme of being an individual with highs and lows, yet perfect if part of a group, as diversity is to Omar a real strength.
He loves to keep every cap from his spray cans and paint these individually to form overall works of art. His daily mantra is “I am not punching to destroy. I am creating”. And we must observe that his credo backs up the ever-present concept that fists are not meant to hurt but to add colours to the soul, contributing to writing the never-ending poems latched in his art.
INFORMATION
Images with courtesy of Omar Hassan
