Cerulean Arts is pleased to present Fractals and Walls, featuring new paintings by Kassem Amoudi.  Amoudi’s art is a distillation of his life’s journey both as an artist and as a seeker of truth and beauty. His work straddles a thin line between form and formlessness, positive and negative space, the dynamic and the static, action and stillness.  For Amoudi, true beauty lies beyond form and nature.  It may be hidden in a slight hint of color at the edge of the canvas or it may become the main attraction. Amoudi listens and responds to his paintings as if they were living beings, allowing them to assume the form for which they were meant.

A fractal is defined as "a fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is a reduced-size copy of the whole."   Amoudi finds this phenomenon miraculous in that the entire universe can be reflected in the tiniest particle, and is akin to poetic metaphors.  Amoudi’s FRACTAL paintings emphasize repeated pattern, subtraction and order from chaos while reflecting his ongoing painting interests:  active/quiet contrast, multiple focal points, dominant color and space.  WALLS are inspired by the old ruins of cities in which Amoudi grew up, and by the city of Camden, New Jersey where he currently lives and works.

Kassem Amoudi is a graduate of Helwan University in Cairo, Egypt; he received his MFA at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.  An award-winning painter with an extensive exhibition record, Amoudi is an adjunct faculty member at PAFA and faculty-in-residence in the MFA program at Vermont College/Union Institute and University.

Fractals and Walls is on view January 25 – February 25, 2012 and is free and open to the public. The opening reception is Friday, January 27 from 5 - 8 pm.  The artist will be available to answer questions about his work on Sunday, February 12, 1 - 4 pm with a gallery talk at 2 pm.

http://www.ceruleanarts.com/exhibitions.htm