Hassan Sharif

Though widely known for his trailblazing conceptual sculptural compositions, Hassan Sharif first received recognition for his figurative images. In some of his late works on paper, Sharif repeats the gesture of a raised hand, abstracting the movement until its meanings collapse and run together into an endless surrender. In Raising Hands (2009), he depicts two figures with raised hands, their entire forms abstracted almost beyond recognition. Recalling the charcoal sketches of German Expressionists, Sharif’s pained, waving figures imbue the composition with an uncanny psychological charge. Their gesture—a plea for help—serves as an indictment against authoritarianism, recalling the artist’s assertion, “every act from man is a political act. An artist is a realist by nature. So the function of my work of art is to say no to the authoritative orders, so I still feel and I consider myself as a realist."