Leila Heller Gallery is pleased to announce artist Shahzad Ghazi’s solo show ‘Grace versus Strength: The Elements of Ornament’, on view in Dubai until June 30th, 2022. Shahzad experiments with classic Islamic art and the modern art while focusing on the usage of ornaments, which he describes as “the elaboration of functionally complete objects for the sake of visual pleasure” The usage of ornaments in art, although an age-old practice, for most of the twentieth century has been systematically excluded from mainstream Western art-practice as well as Asian art. Since the beginning of the Romantic Movement, we have tended to equate creativity with spontaneity, but in traditional ornament, visual effects rarely happen by accident. Ornament is labor-intensive by its glamour of shapes, forms and colors. Fortunately, ornament usage is becoming acceptable again. Ornaments are intended, first and last, to give pleasure. It transforms the inessential into a theatre for passion, beauty, and invention. Unlike traditional painting and sculpture, whose subject matter provides the key to their emotional tone, ornament communicates primarily through form. The only way to appreciate ornament is by contemplating it and gaining a new understanding of the relation between functional and decorative forms. This is exactly what we can find in Shahzad’s works. Pictured: Shahzad Hassan Ghazi, One Moment, 2021, Gold Leafing & Pen on Canvas, 182 x 182 cm Shahzad Hassan Ghazi, Way of Wisdom, 2021, Gold Leafing & Pen on Canvas, 182 x 182 cm #leilahellergallery #shahzadhassanghazi