Jeddah: “I’m inspired by humans. I can’t get enough of understanding myself and others as human beings,” says Saudi surreal artist Mohanna Tayeb.
But his portraits, often described as “grotesque” are not flattering and this is on purpose.
“I find beauty in ugliness,” he tells Gulf News.
The aim, he says, is to juxtapose the positive and negative thoughts in people’s minds.
Though he holds a degree in mass media, 28-year-old Tayeb’s real passion lied in art.
But he didn’t realise this until he broke his leg 10 years ago.
In order to pass time he attended a drawing class where he discovered a deep passion for surreal art.
It was an easy decision. Tayeb quit his job in order to pursue a career in art.
He says most of his skills were self-taught—he would spend his days watching YouTube videos and reading up on surreal art and artists such as Salvador Dali, Vincent Van Gogh, and Francis Bacon.
To support himself he worked odd jobs, but that didn’t sway him from his chief goal to become a career artist.
He attributes much of his life perspective to his parents’ divorce—his father did not play an active role in his upbringing.
“Being raised by my mother and two aunts gave me the freedom of living my own life, making mistakes, conquering pain and insecurities, and becoming the person I am today,” he told Gulf News.
“When my art began to be picked up in art galleries and gained more attention in the media, and they saw I could actually make money out of it, they changed their opinion,” he said.
At first, many people did not “get” his art, Tayeb says.
His family encouraged him to pursue his passions and they were apprehensive at first because of the strange and disturbing nature of his portraits.
Some people criticised his work claiming it focuses on ugliness, but for Tayeb, and many others who appreciate it, his art aims to rattle the mind and encourage deep thought and self-introspection.
“My painting is a mirror into one’s soul. I want people to understand that no one is perfect,” he says.
Now that he has acquired a sizable following, he fields many requests for self-portraits.
In order to capture the essence of his subjects, he conducts lengthy interviews with them in order to understand their weaknesses and strengths.
- Mohanna Tayeb | Saudi artist
Other times he picks up on subtle cues from observing people around him and draws the rest from his imagination.
His favourite medium to paint is with ink and watercolours because they take less time—a typical portrait takes around three days to complete.
He often loses track of time while painting as he becomes completely immersed in his subject.
Today, Tayeb is a regular at art galleries and has two solo exhibitions under his belt.
His artwork has also been featured at exhibitions in London and Dubai.
As for the state of art in his home country, Tayeb believes that Saudis are becoming more aware and appreciative of art than before.
“Art has never really been encouraged, especially as a career, and it is often limited to a single class in school or pursued as a hobby,” he says.
However, Tayeb believes things are slowly changing and the country is producing more and more artists.
He recently opened a studio in Jeddah to give aspiring artists an outlet to cultivate their talent.
He hopes the government will establish professional art schools in the future so that Saudis don’t have to travel abroad to learn art.
With the recent of surge of socio-cultural reforms in the kingdom in the past year, Tayeb said, “there will be more local artists because creativity will now be accepted, and artists will come forward with power and courage. But it will take some time”.
