Mahmoud Sabri was an Iraqi artist, who trained at the Surikov Art Institute in Moscow in the early 1960s under the mentorship of Socialist Realist painter Aleksandr Deyneka. In the late 1960s, Sabri became increasingly interested in the relationship between art and science. Influenced by David Alfaro Siqueiros’s text Towards a Transformation of the Plastic Arts (1934), Sabri’s shifting approach to painting echoed the Mexican artist’s words: “Our art must have a real scientific basis. [...] For the first time in history, we shall find scientific truths which can be proved, either physically, chemically, or psychologically. In this way, we will be able to forge a strong connection between art and science”. In 1971, Sabri published a manifesto titled Quantum Realism, in which he called for an “application of the scientific method in the field of art”. His subsequent work consisted of colour compositions, presenting an indexed codification of reality, devoid of figures and recognisable objects, as can be seen in his painting Water (circa 1970)
This is the first time the work of Mahmoud Sabri is presented at Biennale Arte.
—Suheyla Takesh
