BASSMI IBRAHIM

Artist Biography - Bassmi Ibrahim (Born 1941)

Born in Cairo in 1941, Bassmi Ibrahim’s aesthetic education began at home with his

father, who was devoted to photography. At school, Bassmi’s talent was recognized at

14 by an art teacher, who for the next seven years instructed him privately both in

traditional techniques and in “how to feel and think as an artist". Bassmi went on to

study at Ain Shams University, receiving his BA degree in art in 1963. Bassmi attended

4 years of noncredit studies at the College of Fine Art, and while the curriculum focused

on making art in older styles, ranging from classical to Impressionist, Bassmi was

deeply attracted to modern painting, that eventually became his lifelong preoccupation.

In 1965, awakening early one morning with his mind clear and open, Bassmi realized a

need to paint from his inner self. What followed was an outpouring of 150 small ink

wash images, that connected the observable and the subconscious. This approach,

which the artist calls, “painting from my gut and not my mind”, would prove basic to

Bassmi’s art.

In the mid-1960s, the artist moved to New York, immersing himself in the world of

abstract art. One day in Greenwich Village, Bassmi encountered in person one of his

artistic influences, Mark Rothko. Later, while seeing his work the older artist encouraged

Bassmi in his path as a painter, and Rothko remains a spiritual mentor. Other important

influences include the Abstract Expressionists de Kooning and Pollock, and the Color

Field painters Paul Jenkins and Helen Frankenthaler. During this period, Bassmi’s

abstract paintings were shown in New York.

In the mid-1970s Bassmi moved to Clearwater, Fl where he took over his father’s

printing business and ran an art gallery. During a hiatus from painting, the artist

immersed himself in the study of metaphysics and homeopathy. The spiritual depth that

he explored became a touchstone for his work, with abstraction an embodiment of the

boundlessness of existence itself. In 1999, the artist produced several new paintings,

these canvases, while abstract, reflected the artist’s closeness to nature, as well as his

feeling for the dialogue of spontaneity and control with liquid, translucent paint. From

2004-2005, Bassmi produced paintings with veils of rich color on white grounds. The

Isness Series in 2005 followed a similar format and was inspired by the intrinsic reality

of all experience, expressed through luminescent petals and flows of oil and acrylic

paint.

Bassmi’s work is in corporate and private collections and has been widely exhibited in

the United States and abroad. His recent solo exhibitions include those at St.

Petersburg College, the University of South Florida, Eckerd College, Salt Creek Art

Colony, Pensacola Museum of Art, Panama City Art Center and Parkersburg Art

Center, West Virginia.