Laila Shawa - Janet Rady Fine Art

Laila Shawa

[Artist Biography]

After more than four decades of art-making one would think that Laila Shawa hardly needs introducing. Yet, few cognoscenti seem to be familiar with the entire range and volume of her extensive oeuvre. Certainly, amongst Western collectors, Shawa is best known for her ongoing series of silkscreens and prints The Walls of Gaza, whilst Arab patrons buying in the late 1960s and 70s still rate highly her sizeable group of works entitled Cities and her sumptuous depictions of horses. Shawa's intensely colourful painting sequences Women and the Veil and Women and Magic solidified her reputation as a major creative force critically engaged with the Arab world and "one of the few Arab artists to successfully break through barriers in the West." (Dr Christa Paula)