At seven years old, Naim Ismail (1930-1979) fled south with his family from their native city of Antioch after the northern region of Syria was annexed by Turkey in 1939. Ismail became a painter following in the footsteps of his older brother, Adham. Unlike his brother, Naim Ismail’s art was heavily political, greatly inspired by scenes of everyday life and traditional design including islamic geometric art and abstract symbolic forms. After having studied painting in Istanbul and Rome, Ismail settled in Damascus to work as an artistic director for magazines. Prior to his death, during nine years, he held the position of Director of Fine Arts at the Syrian ministry of Culture. Ismail was concerned with both form and content, often imbuing his pieces with socio-political messages. He has produced pen drawings, frescoes, mosaics and publication covers. He was commissioned to create public works such as the façade of the trade union building in Damascus and the front of the Euphrates Dam in Tabqa. 

Ismail’s work has been exhibited and acquired by private and public collections such as the Barjeel Art Foundation and the Atassi Foundation.

Naim Ismail paints an abstract string made of black and yellow - colors that loosely resemble Arabic letters, but can also be seen as contemporary graffiti. This horizontal line mimics a road that converges with a much smoother gray path. Caught in the middle of these “roads” is a dog skipping towards the gray path. 

This piece was inspired by Ibn Tufayl’s philosophical tale, Hayy ibn Yaqzan, one of the most famous medieval Arabic stories to reach the West. In his tale, the author is critical of Man’s inability to perceive the world through human instinct and spirituality. Instead, Man follows dogmas and rituals created by him to feel safe and reassured.

The yellow symbolic composition in the painting represents the dogmas and laws imposed on Man by society, as opposed to the smooth and simple gray path that illustrates the human instinct. The wandering dog running towards the gray road can also personify a strong connection to human intuition and impulse.