Jamali's Memoir - Just Released!!
JAMALI: A Mystical Journey of Hope,The True Story of an American Artist.
A coming-to-America success story, this is the autobiography of Pakistani-born American artist, Jamali, who originated Mystical Expressionism and whose mission is to bring peace to the world through art.
In this illustrated memoir the reader is treated to an epic saga covering seven decades and three continents about an artist's dream for a more peaceful world. The eldest son of a prominent family living in the foothills of the Himalayas, Jamali experienced the horrors of war through the Indian Partition, which led him to pursue a life of peace through art on a prolific scale producing more than 40,000 original works to date. The complex surfaces and mystical imagery found in Jamali's paintings have been compared to the neo-expressionists Anselm Kiefer and Georg Baselitz. His gestural techniques link him to Jackson Pollock and the New York School. But the pre-eminent art critic Donald Kuspit observed that Jamali's singular method required its own name -- Mystical Expressionism. One hundred artworks individually selected by the artist accompany the engaging text in a separate section beautifully printed on a specially coated paper. Similar to Gandhi who advocated change through non-violent measures Jamali hopes to change our lives by sharing his story of art and peace.
Publishing Date: March 2023
• Author: Jamali
• Format: Hardcover
• Category: Art - Individual Artists - Monographs
• Publisher: Rizzoli
• Trim Size: 11-1/4 x 11-1/4
• Pages: 480
• US Price: $150.00
• ISBN: 978-0-8478-6619-9
SELECTED EXCERPTS
I follow in the footsteps of my father who was an ardent believer in Gandhi, who once told him, “I dreamed of devoting my life to Peace.” I have dreamed of devoting my life to the Art of Peace and that is my destiny.
My storyline is embedded in the DNA of my ancestors. It is an epic story, a mythological, heroic story, where the dark forces combat the light, as it meanders through seven decades and three continents.
Surviving several near-death experiences that included facing a firing squad in the Thar Desert, Pakistan, I immigrated to America in 1973 with $300 in my pocket. Striving to persevere and survive, and find my place in the New World, my moment of clarity and mission came in 1976 when my father passed. At that time, I had a series of exceptionally powerful and mystical dreams, which inspired me to my new vocation Art & Peace.
Empowered by these dreams, I created more than 30,000 original pieces of artworks to date, which is one of the largest collections in the world by a single artist. I innovated several new techniques including painting with my feet, authoring my style Mystical Expressionism, which has changed the landscape of painting.
The American art institutions exhibited an undeniable, strikingly prejudicial posture towards my art contributions when the distinguished Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., published two defining monographs celebrating my style and its evolutionary role in contemporary art history. Art collectors world-wide – especially American collectors – have enthusiastically and overwhelmingly embraced me, and I have become one of the most collected artists for original artworks in the world. As the American brand of institutional racism continues to play out its ironic and paradoxical role to Mystical Expressionism its influences are spreading far and wide.
My story looks to the future. It looks to a new path based on my dream for Art & Peace, even as the saga continues, I am optimistic about our future.
This, is my Journey of Hope.