Jamali, creator of postmodernism's Mystical Expressionism

I first met Jamali in Orlando in the mid-90s when one of his paintings was on offer at a charity fundraising event. I got to talking with him and was mesmerized.

Untitled, ca. 1995
Jamali

I subsequently spent some time with him, exploring his philosophy, motivation, goals, and artwork. Since those early days, Jamali has grown to become "one of the most prolific artists in history." I recently re-connected with him at his studio in Winter Park and remain enthralled.

Jamali at his Winter Park Studio earlier this year

In a recent post, I positioned Jamali's Mystical Expressionism -- the moniker used by noted art critic Donald Kuspit to describe his style -- on my Postmodernism timeline.

The chart shows Jamali launching his career simultaneously with the birth of the Neo-Expressionist movement, but continuing to be productive in his chosen domain for 25+ years after the demise of that school. 

Jamali employs a number of unique painting rituals and styles (painting with his feet, fresca tempera, pigmentation on cork, pigment distortion) and his complex surfaces and mystical imagery have been compared to neo-Expressionists Anselm Kiefer and Georg Baselitz while his gestural techniques bring to mind the works of Jackson Pollock and the New York School.

Untitled, ca. 1995
Jamali

Untitled, ca. 1995
Jamali

Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom, 2000
Anselm Kiefer

Head and Bottle, 1982
Georg Baselitz

His style is a melding of contemporary consciousness and arts most ancient traditions. In our most recent conversation, Jamali pointed to a long tradition of mysticism in art reaching back to the Egyptian Scribes and, even further back, to the artists responsible for the pre-historic European cave paintings.

Untitled, ca. 1995
Jamali

The material for his work is sourced from his dreams (similar to some of the prominent surrealists) with his paintings "... inhabited by dream figures that appear and then fade away." His persistent themes and mythic imagery define a single artistic vision which he has dubbed Art and Peace.

Untitled, ca. 1995
Jamali

His life's work is unmatched in its scope, as it relates to variety and spiritual depth. But there are also more tangible manifestations of its scope:

• He has produced more paintings than any other artist, including Picasso
• He is one of the most collected artists in the world with his works featured in the collections of personalities such as Elton John, Emeril Lagasse, Jack Welch, Kelsey Grammer, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Oprah Winfrey
• The Jamali Foundation is the largest single-artist foundation in the world.

Jamali is now in the process of raising funds to establish a museum in Orlando to display his held works.

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