Suez Canal 2019

Alaa Awad's painting of the Suez Canal is teeming with so much life. I can imagine Awad working on this big canvas, layering figures over figures in bright blues and browns. The painting has this epic, historical feel, like those history paintings from the 19th century, but flatter and more direct. I’m wondering, what was Awad thinking when he made this? I can imagine him wanting to show the canal as this huge, transformative thing. Look at how he paints those crowds of people, all in a line, like he's trying to cram as much as possible into the frame. And there's that white horse, so elegant, pulling a chariot – it feels like something out of a dream. You can almost feel the weight of the crowds. What’s so great about painting is how one artist can riff off another. It's like we're all in this ongoing conversation, inspiring each other to see the world in new ways. And painting, it's all about feeling your way through the chaos, trying to make sense of the world one brushstroke at a time.