For centuries, art has been known for speaking on behalf of the artist and a critical response to the artist's surroundings. Artists continue to use art to reflect their critical perspectives on certain situations and discuss social situations.
Abdullah al Kalbani is an Omani artist whose artworks are themed around social issues and situations because he believes that art can depict every psychological and social scene deeply.
Al Kalbani insists that art is a message that places the onus on its people to grasp. Thus, even if he believes in 'Art for the sake of art' and follows it in some of his work, he finds himself in a position where he must hold and deliver the message of art to stimulate and cause social changes.
"Family" is one of the artworks that Alkabbani always finds himself drowning in its details and concepts that It holds. Cats are an important element in this artwork, as in most of his works. Three sculptures are used to show different family members: mother, father and son.
In his work, Kalbani criticises the stereotype of the emotional role; the mother is always the source of emotion in the family structure, which deforms the father's love.
The three sculptures are placed very carefully to convey the artist's perspective, emphasising the presence of fatherly love and affection, albeit of a different nature than maternal love and affection.
The son sculpture is very close to the mother sculpture, showing the essence of expressing maternal love, affection and care. The harmony between the two sculptures allows viewers to feel that it is exactly the same as maternal love in real life, leading to the stereotype that "mother is the only source of emotion between parents".
The father sculpture is placed a little bit far away from the son sculpture. However, when the viewer looks closer, he can see that the father sculpture's attention and concern are focused on his son. It can be seen that a father's love usually appears in different ways, always ready to protect.
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