Gaza Beach No.2 By Tayseer Barakat

In his latest series of abstract seascapes, Shoreless Sea, Barakat’s works manifest as an account of refugees’ desperate journeys to cross the Mediterranean to Europe in search of a normal life. For Barakat, the Mediterranean was part of his life; he himself is a refugee who lived near the shores of Gaza as a child and by the shores of Alexandria as an undergraduate student. Nonetheless, this same sea that he grew to love, has transformed in recent years to become a beast that swallows fellow refugees in their desperate trips in search for new decent lives in Europe. He depicts it as a being with no boundaries, merciless and unruly.

The drawing technique Barakat uses creates a real feeling of moving waves, turbulent water, and an alive sea. Looking closely, one could imagine Poseidon, the Greek god of the Sea, steering sea storms and creating enormous waves across the surface. One can even feel him breathing from under the waters through the lungs of hundreds of refugees who lost their lives drowning in the depths.

Abstract Beach Art, Gaza Beach by Tayseer Barakat. Art Print available in Large and Original Dimensions.