Dia Al Azzawi. Retrospective

Dia al-Azzawi studied first archaeology and then fine arts in Baghdad. His work includes paintings, prints, drawings and books as well as sculpture. As a prominent Iraqi artist now living in London, he plays an important role in the promotion of Iraqi and Arab art to wider audiences.
In 1969 he formed the art group New Vision along with other artists such as Rafa al-Nasiri, Mohammed Muhriddin, Ismail Fattah, Hachem al Samarchi, and Saleh al-Jumaie. Al-Azzawi joined the One Dimension group that Shakir Hassan al-Said initiated but remained within the fold of New Vision until 1972. Beyond painting, Al-Azzawi's work includes sculptures, prints, and drawings, as well as books through which visual art interacts with prose and poetry. He has exhibited extensively in the Middle East, North Africa, United States, India, Brazil, and Europe, including a retrogressive exhibition, "Dia Azzawi," at the Institute du Monde Arabe (IMA) in Paris in 2002. In 1976, Al-Azzawi relocated to London to work as an art consultant at the Iraqi Cultural Centre.
An interesting change can be witnessed in Azzawi’s style over the decades, the transfer from a more gritty detailed style that was witnessed mostly in his 70′s Ink drawings to a rather more colourful and abstract approach. But one common factor can be seen among them is the inclusion of Arabic letters and worded elements which made him part of the Word Into Art exhibition in The British Museum.