In his paintings, 42-year-old Khalidy depicts how the world is seen through children’s eyes through colors and shapes. His canvases reflect the minds of children and how they grasp the realities they see and hear. He even uses bright colors in his paintings, ones that would attract children.
He also shows religious symbols in his art works. For example, in one painting he illustrates the story of Prophet Jonas (Yunus) when he was swallowed by the whale and stayed inside it for three nights. The painting looks just how a child would imagine the tale after hearing it.
Khalidy is a self-taught artist who tasted diverse cultures. In fact, he spent 20 years of his life in New York and now lives between Lebanon and France. He is an outsider artist and holds no conscious attention to a specific artistic trend. His art is created outside the boundaries of official culture. French painter Jean Dubuffet labeled this kind of art as “Art Brut,” which literally translates to “Raw Art.” However, the commonly used English term for it is “Outsider Art.”
His exhibition, “Raw Visions,” which opened on Dec. 10, is held at Rose Issa Projects in Kensington, London. It will continue to run until Jan. 23. Rose Issa Projects was founded by curator, writer and producer who has championed visual art and film from the Arab world and Iran for nearly 30 years. It is concerned in brining out contemporary art from the Arab world and Iran.
