Among Madi’s most qualitative, quantitative, and controversial works are those in which the lines seem broken, straight or circular, contiguous or crossing and are apparently simultaneously based on both the conflict and harmony between two poles.

At first sight, this makes us believe that this assemblage and construction is some sort of an innovative alphabet, especially at a time when artifacts and alphabets have become a source for the seeker of the innovative, or a topic of conversation that never leads to a decisive conclusion. However, this leads us to an initial, hurried comparison, which almost always will then develop, into a deceptive digression. Madi’s works spring from a theme that is mostly a living creature. A creature that is moving, moving autonomously among a group of its own kind within a single framework ... thus he begins with the bird and continues with the horse, or alternatively he chooses the head of a woman, or any other living creature for that matter, and manages to use them as tools which unify both content and form.

The viewer who carefully considers this artist’s work to be a complete and harmonious work of quality is certainly able to tie up loose ends. This perspective leads to the essence of his art where either all is stripped to make the nucleus visible, or simplicity is resized so that everything appears lofty even within its own solidity. In the first case, a linear simplification leads to the vital axes of a living creature, and in the second, there is such flat simplification of the surface that it attains a smoothness, perfect to the touch. In both instances, there is a total isolation of the creature from its environment so the creature can deal with its surroundings in its own way.

Hence, what first attracts our attention in the works of Madi is that perfect clarity in his figurative performance. With one quick glance, forms are comprehensible to the eye and are imprinted in the memory. The approach is clear and simple, the rhythm is balanced, and the all-seeing first glance ends, making way for contemplation to commence. The eye does not leave the composition without becoming a victim, without being enticed and taken from one element to another, from one component to another, without the need to define a beginning and an end. The rhythm is not temporal but revolves in its own space and orbit...it is a dynamic rhythm in a stable, artistic context.

We are in the presence of a work of intrinsic potential evolving in a continuous state of liberation. The composition is made up of a complex series of shapes that look similar where congruence is concerned yet each has its own individual elements. The relationship of form to form in a limited space is simultaneously a relationship of independence and dependence... that is, the independence of each part within the whole work as well as its dependence on it, and the independence of the unit within the composition and its dependence on the entire work. The whole process is linked by a dynamic relationship that breathes life into the entire artwork. The whole composition yields in its entirety to an expressionistic principle even though we are not really standing before an abstract work representing its own distinct self but an abstraction that through form and movement conveys expressions about life. We are truly meeting art that is alive.

by Mounir Eido