Saadi Al Kaabi – was born in 1937 in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf, growing up in a small town close to the city’s shrines. As a child he explored his environment, playing games with his brother in Najaf’s famous vast cemetery, and also with local kids in the streets, playing various games rooted in Iraqi heritage, which would become the subject of some of the artist’s future paintings. As a young man, Al Kaabi had a reputation for being a highly talented draughtsman; this encouraged him to pursue his work further and led him to win many prizes for his skills. He started studying at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad in the late 1950s, graduating in 1960 with a diploma from the Department of Painting.
Al Kaabi soon left Iraq and settled in Los Angeles, where he still lives to this day. Throughout his life he has not only become one of Iraq’s foremost modernist painters, but has also proved his skill in both sculpture and ceramic art. His early, experimental work was full of expressionist energy, whilst the later years slowly wore away his bold spontaneity, becoming more subdued, reflective and enigmatic. His artwork is still regularly exhibited across the world, and he still continues to explore the infinite realms of the human condition and the endless creative depths of his heritage.
