AHMAD CANAAN

In Canaan's work, the figure of the knight is directly derived from Islamic history and the stories of Salah Al-Din who liberated Jerusalem from the crusaders (see The Saviour 1). In his works, the figure of the knight becomes a positive or negative shadow repeating and dominating the lengths of paintings and tableaus of Jerusalem and of portraits. In these depictions the knight is devoid of all facial features, becoming instead a symbol. In The Saviour 2 the dark figure of the knight frames the composition on the right side, while the Canaanite mother goddess Asherah frames the left side, with Jerusalem situated in the middle.
The repetitions of the knight figure overlaying the entire composition recall to mind the arabesques of Islamic art and architecture, specifically the mashrabiyah that is a key shading element in architecture. In later works, the knight arabesque moves beyond the painted canvas and becomes a physical metal separator standing between the viewer and the painting behind it.