First learning the artist Khalid Alkaaby, I was viewing his series of women dancers in red. Often times red and women figures tend to remind me of the erotic sense. I suppose what's interesting about
The above painting is "Be Free.. Dance With Me" by Alkaaby in 2015. Like most of his works, a dancing woman is at the foreground with the blank space as background.
Color and light are definitely outstanding here. The use of red feminizes the dancer and also stands for her enthusiasm and love for dancing. The choice of red here is rather modest, neither too deep nor too light. One of the things I like about this painting is that red does not give any erotic sense- the artist let most of the red in shade and the only red highlighted renders viewers to focus more on the color itself. The lightened red serves to separate different sections of the painting and notify the transitioning of her movement. The edge of her skirt goes with her hip; the hair accessory responds to her eyes and inevitably guides the gaze to her elbows and hands. Thus her motions and movements are being elaborated and her passion on dancing suggested by red are expressed through her face.
Color changes from dark to bright as she moves her body, which is outlined by the light. The dim bottom part looks a bit heavier than the rest and her hands, the lightest. The blurring at her lower body includes her in the background, in her own secular space but yet her hands, delivering her motions are beyond her little world. Instead of a foreshortening effect, the shadows on her arms transit the movement from her upper body to her hands- the hands are almost out of the space, out of the painting, out of her world, yet remained as an integral. She is indulging herself in her own personal land, but her skills and enthusiasm guide her out to another level.
I saw her love for dancing. It reminds me of the flamenco dancers- they dance because they feel like to. They do not care whether they have viewers. They just dance, because the music awakens the part of her soul.
I might want an excuse to dance, which being, I feel like so.
