Saddek Wasil
Solo Exhibition: Saddek Wasil
14 Января - 28 Февраля 2015
Saddek Wasil is a Saudi sculptor whose main medium is metal and discarded metallic material. His
powerful sculptures exuberate a rejection of binding stereotypes and an iron will to defeat material
subjugation for the sake of spiritual freedom. His artwork is not to be understood as a present state, as
it holds the promise of future success in overcoming chains, locks and closed boundaries.
Wasil was born in Makkah Al-Mukarrama in 1973. His mother was a seamstress and his father was a
mechanic. Thus, Saddek became accustomed to working with his hands and spent much of his youth in
his father’s garage, where he learned how to weld and work with metal, mainly iron. During his free
time, he often salvaged discarded car parts and metal scraps to create amorphous figures, distorted
bodies and human masks from his imagination:
“I’m a hoarder, I don’t like to throw anything away. I don’t like the idea of discarding things. Nowadays,
everything or everyone is dispensable. I suppose I try to show that you can find value in anything, or
anyone”.
As with many artists, Saddek is influenced by his surroundings and the happenings of the world around
him, with particular focus on humans and human emotions. In Makkah, Wasil is a witness to the daily
struggles of his fellow man, as well as an observer of their innermost struggles at the moment when
they are at their most vulnerable, in the house of God. His work is in no way judgemental, as he rejects
the role of the judge; it is merely a recognition of diversity in all its forms and colours. His work is about
understanding, acceptance, and tolerance and foremost, it is about the acknowledgement of seen and
unseen realities.
Saddek is not a sculptor in any traditional sense, as he has had no formal training, does not work with
clay or with moulds, his work is not produced in a foundry and does not come in editions. He works with
his hands, and by himself. His primary material is metal, in various shapes and forms. He equates metal,
with strength, and his patience and ability to break down its intransigence and to manipulate it to his
will, is what gives him his sense of empowerment and achievement.
Wasil received his formal education in Environmental Studies and Agricultural Sciences from King
Abdulaziz University. He is a member of a number of arts societies. Namely, the Contemporary Artist’s
Home, The Association of Culture and the Arts and the Saudi Society of Fine Arts. He currently holds the position of Director of the Arts and Culture Department in Mecca.
He has exhibited extensively nationally and has participated in a number of international events and art
fairs; Edge of Arabia, Istanbul (2010); OFID, Vienna (2011), Shanghai Expo at the Duolon Museum of
Modern Art (2010); Art Dubai (2009, 2010, 2011); MENASA Art Fair, Beirut (2011); Marrakech Art Fair
(2011) and the International Art Biennale in Dakar, Senegal ( 2008, 2009). In 2012, he launched is first
solo exhibition at Athr Gallery ‘And They Will Not Cease to Differ…’ and participated in ‘Made in
Makkah’, a group show of artists from Mecca at Artspace London. He has been selected for Dar Al-
Ma’mun’s 2013 residency in Morocco.
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