FOR 11/9

‘THE DANCER SERIES’ WILL OPEN NOV. 15 AT NYC’S JAMALI GALLERY

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NEW YORK CITY — Jamali NYC Gallery will present “The Dancer Series,” an exhibition of six large-scale mystical paintings inspired by spirituality and ritualistic dance.

“The Dancer Series,” a collection of pigmentation on cork paintings created from 1997 through 2003, pays homage to the Sufi mystical practice of experiencing spirituality through the art of dance. As a young man, Jamali came to know this dancing practice while living with the Sufi in the Rajasthan Desert for five years. It was there that he learned to commune with the mystic self through this ritualistic art form.

The paintings exhibit Jamali’s sensitivity to varying textures, taking full advantage of the cork’s ability to absorb and repel pigment such that both thick layered colors intermix with delicate washes. To achieve the complex surfaces of these works, Jamali performed a meditative dance on each paintings while applying gold, silver, copper and organic pigments with is feet.

Through this act of dancing, it is believed that the greater spiritual centers of perception and vision in the individual are awakened. The images mirrored back in this series come in the form of both abstract gestural marks and primitive figures.

The gallery is at 413 West Broadway. For information, www.jamali.com or 212-966-3335.