At times he's so soft-spoken, you need a hearing aid to pick up what he's saying and at other times he's trumpeting alarm calls about the need for just action. Nidal El Khairy is an interesting character. They say good art is born of struggle and resistance. In this artist's case, good art is born of the very meaning of his name.
The official bio according to his website www.nidal48.com is as follows:
"Nidal El Khairy is an illustrator living in Amman, Jordan. After completing a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, he moved to Montreal, Canada, where he spent four and half years. He was also active in several grass-roots organizations, such as the Coalition against the Deportation of Palestinian refugees, and participated in group shows such as the Artists Against the Israeli Occupation, in both Montreal and Tokyo."
His work has been featured in art-spaces, web-spaces like Electronic Intifada and even on a Noam Chomsky book cover. Not bad for someone who still considers himself at the beginning of a journey, from what his answers seem to convey in the brief and to-the-point interview that follows:
JoCr8: While more and more artists are reveling in playing with the textures and colours, abstracting their works, you're populating your work with characters. Who are these characters? Why are they crammed together?
N48: They are regular people. They are crammed together because that's how it is in reality. If you chose an area of 50 square meters in the privileged areas you can count 6 people including the domestic workers. If you take that same area in let's say East Amman you can easily find 50 people living in that space.
JoCr8: What's your main motive? Would you say it's a driving ambition or a motive?
N48: I started drawing faces a while ago. I thought I had Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder for a while... I can't stop drawing them! My ambition is to become a cartoonist and draw about political and social satire.
The time for worldwide boycott is now - Nidal El Khairy
JoCr8: Do you only paint for causes and to convey a clear message, and does your work have to be commissioned for authors of articles or books whose opinions are parallel to yours?
N48: Yes, I am biased. A cartoonist should be, in my opinion. I draw for Electronicintifada.net because we have a common goal and share the same political point of view. It's not my main source of income anyway so why prostitute the art work? I'm a flash animator and do work with the corporate world...after all we have to milk the b*st*rds so we can fund our own goals! But my illustrations are mine. My painting teacher once told me, "Stay true to your art." and that's what I plan on doing.
There is Hope in Gaza - Nidal El Khairy
Resisting the Nakba - Nidal El Khairy
JoCr8: Obviously you're not one to divorce yourself from his socio-political environment...your work alerts viewers to what's happening. Like caricature. How close to caricature are you?
N48: I've done a few but I don't think I'm "there" yet. I don't want to draw your average political cartoon. Some people told me my work is too straight forward, so I’m still experimenting with different methods of delivering a message.
JoCr8: So, after establishing yourself as an illustrator, what's the next step for you? Any interesting projects coming up?
N48: I've always wanted to animate and merge cartoons with documentaries. We live in a world where visual bombardment is a part of our everyday life. It distracts us from focusing on our problems as a people...so in my opinion if we want to talk about social justice we should enter these new digital arenas. It's necessary.