A MAJOR retrospective of the work of a renowned local artist opens at Leicester Museum & Art Gallery next weekend.
Satta Hashem, who was born in Iraq in 1959, studied mural painting and decorative arts in Leningrad (now St Petersburg), before moving to Sweden and settling in the UK.
Since moving to Leicester in 2000, the artist has created hundreds of paintings and drawings that reflect a broad range of themes – from his response to the US occupation of Iraq in 2003, to his compassion for the victims of war and sectarianism, and his exploration of colour to represent moments in his daily life.
From Saturday 15 February, more than 80 pieces of Satta Hashem’s work will be on display at Leicester Museum, making it one of the most comprehensive exhibitions ever of the artist’s work.
His stunning portraits evoke the earliest depictions of the human face found in masks from the ancient civilisation of Sumer – now part of modern-day Iraq. These historical influences are referenced in the exhibition by a number of ancient Sumerian artefacts, kindly loaned by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
In addition to paintings, drawings and murals, the retrospective will also include book and magazine illustrations, rare archive material and samples of the artist’s sketchbooks.
A World of Colour & Emotion: Satta Hashem opens at Leicester Museum & Art Gallery on Saturday 15 February and continues until Sunday 29 June.
Admission is free of charge.
More information about what’s on at Leicester Museum is available at leicestermuseums.org/museum-art-gallery
Picture caption: Untitled No 10, 2023: Satta Hashem