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by Rebecca Anne Proctor
Aviation Stories, Hopes, And Dreams In the Vibrant Works Of Shady AlHady
13 Jul 2024
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A green aeroplane soars through the skin. Surrounding it are pale pink clouds and blue sky. Written across the aeroplane is the phrase in Arabic script في رحلته الاولى شعر بمتعة وسرور (“On his first trip he felt joy and happiness”). The statement alongside the aeroplane offers a charming way to depict the elation one can feel from flying. The charming work is done in acrylic on canvas and is by Palestinian-Jordanian Kuwait-based artist Shady AlHady (1987), whose work is currently on view in the office space of Bawa Gallery, a digital gallery operating from Kuwait representing artists from across the GCC. On view until the end of August, AlHady’s exhibition displays over 20 paintings created over the last several years that depict his animated, colourfully painted stream-of-consciousness style, all of which reflect his fondness for aviation.
Growing up in the Al Ahmadi town of Kuwait, Shady was constantly aware of planes flying overhead that would depart from the nearby airport. The regular sight and sounds of aeroplanes became familiar and comforting to him, akin to a mother’s voice after a long absence. Born in Kuwait in 1987 to Palestinian parents — his father was forced to leave his home in Palestine during the early days of the Israeli occupation — as a child AlHady developed an innate passion for animation and graphic design, inspired greatly by Arab pop culture of the past and present eras.
“As a child, I gained pleasure from retreating on my own to watch Arabic movies and cartoons,” he explains. “In Al Ahmadi, there is a lot of graffiti and the street art that I grew up around also inspired me to create my art.”
He grew up alongside his elder brother Basil. The two witnessed the development of Kuwait City as children playing in the street with an ever-expanding range of glistening high rises. Basil, who goes by the moniker Karrouhat, is a multidisciplinary artist, DJ whose work spans the fashion, film and art industries.
AlHady went on to study in Amman, Jordan, earning a Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design and Arts from the Applied Science Private University in 2009.
“That’s when I realised I had a keen interest in visual language”, he said in an interview with Mille World. “I fell in love with its power as a form of expression, and its ability to convey information so eloquently”.
After returning to Kuwait, AlHady pursued a career in art and advertising and is presently the creative director of Ghmza, an Arabian independent entertainment and media production house that focuses on talent development and original productions.
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Le Feu (2022) by Shady AlHady
On view at Bawa Gallery until the end of August, AlHady’s works depict surrealistic scenes of everyday life rendered in his stream-of-consciousness style. In Le Feu (2022), which means “The Fire” in English, for example, the spectator witnesses a boxer in the far right corner next to a man at a barber’s shop while below is an alligator with fire coming out of his mouth next to a charming body of water akin to a pond with two fish swimming inside.
“The works portray the idea that people are seeing their lives from an aeroplane and also, that you can see people's lives and what they're doing while flying on a plane,” he explains. AlHady’s perception of aeroplanes is otherworldly in his literal and metaphorical symbolism.
Like in his other works, his art relays visual representation in a charming and accessible way that reflects on the idea of the past and its continual relationship with the present. His paintings thus weave past and present imagery together as if to create a tapestry where individual moments work to create a unified whole.
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In another work titled Normal Day (2022), painted in acrylic on canvas, a soccer player kicks a ball in a field while a plane can be seen taking off in the background. The sense of movement is palpable just as much from the athlete as from the plane in the distance, while the vibrant colouring of the painting relay feelings of joy and dynamism in a similar manner to a David Hockney painting also painted with bright, bold colours.
Another work titled in Arabic الفكرة القادمة غير متوقعه (“The next idea is unexpected”), painted in 2023 in acrylic on canvas, depicts two individuals sitting on the tarmac playing chess amid a mountainous backdrop while a plane flies in the distance. As AlHady aptly titled the work, the next idea, like a voyage in a plane or on a canvas, is always “unexpected.”
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