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The Split of Life: Nabil Kanso Paintings 1974-1994

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The Split of Life contains highly charged works that introduce the reader to the forceful and intensely personal art of Nabil Kanso. His inmost emotions are projected on canvases that reveal images of pathos and tensions full of truth in both the physical and spiritual order of things.Through visions that link poetic and artistic expressions, his works project a vista between the spiritual and material worlds and reveal images in which each viewer can recognize some of the most fundamental resonance of our age and time. In viewing the vast range of the enormous paintings that Nabil Kanso so assiduously produced over the course of a career spanning more than thirty years, the figures would appear to emerge from the canvases to confront the viewers with a compelling view of the world and to respond to the endless variety of chaotic events and wars threatening our planet, splitting nations and people and assaulting the very essence of humanity. The intense expression of the human subject evokes ideas, experiences and visions that serve to animate the spirit and illuminate an important juncture in our time and space. Organized in seven parts embodying the motifs and forces that have shaped the vista of "The Split of Life" interrelated series of paintings from 1974 to 1994, the book offers a spectrum through which to view some of Kanso's most powerful and moving works on America, Vietnam, Lebanon, Hiroshima, Slavery and the Holocaust. The scope and vision of the works are conveyed through superb color reproductions of 76 of his monumental paintings presented in full page, double-page spreads and fold-outs, accompanied by a revealing introduction, documentary photographs, biographical chronology and a bibliography. The sumptuous volume offers for the first time an extensive overview of Kanso's major works and provides direct insight into the soul of his visual universe.

The Split of Life presents a vast expanse of material, both aesthetic and human, encompassing a period from 1974 to 1994 in Nabil Kanso's art. His inmost emotions are projected on cavases whose forms take their inspiration from the endless variety of global chaotic events and wars afflicting humanity. The intense expression fo the human subject evokes ideas, experiences and visions that serve to animate the spirit and illuminate an important inersection of our time and space. Organized in seven parts embodying the interweaving motifs and forces that have shaped the vista of "The Split of Life" interrelated series of paintings, the book carries the art toward issues of global concern. In expressing human suffering and wars engulfing the planet, the field of imagery penetrate the inner essence of a an earthly reality lying beyond its external aspects. The book provides a spectrum through which to view some of Kanso's most powerful and moving paintings on America, Vietnam, Lebanon, Hiroshima, Slavery and the Holocaust. The power and vision of his compelling work are conveyed through superb color reproductions of 76 of his monumental paintings accompanied by a revealing introduction, documentary photographs, biographical chronology and a bibliography. The volume offers for the first time an extensive overview of Kanso's major works and provide direct insight into the soul of his universe. Clothbound, 12 3/4 X 11 1/2, 144pp., 110 illustrations including 76 color plates displayed in full, double-page spreads and fold-outs.