ISSA IBRAHIM: ART FOR HEALING, THINKING CRITICALLY — AND SHAKING THINGS UP

FOR A SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST WHO SPENT NEARLY TWO DECADES AS A RESIDENT PATIENT IN A PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL, MAKING ART IS THERAPEUTIC AND A VITAL TOOL FOR SURVIVAL

by Edward M. Gómez

Recently, we caught up with the New York-based artist Issa Ibrahim, whose work we had first seen in the booth of Fountain House Gallery at recent editions of the Outsider Art Fair. In recent years, that event has taken place in New York at the beginning of March.

As an art-maker, Ibrahim is especially known for his paintings, the character and impact of which range from what might be described as narratively open-ended — they’re mysterious, edgy, and provocative — and, in some cases, psychologically intense. Much of Ibrahim’s art springs from his reflections about his life’s experiences, some of which have been traumatic. His imagery can be incisively political, too; he does not shy away from addressing some of the urgent issues of our current, tempestuous times.

Issa Ibrahim, “Supermarket Heroes,” 2015, acrylic on unstretched canvas, 84 x 60 inches (213.36 x 152.4 centimeters). Photo courtesy of the artist

Recalling his upbringing in Jamaica, in New York City’s borough of Queens, where he was born in 1965, Ibrahim told brutjournal, “My father was a professional musician as well as an artist, and my mother was an artist specializing in graphic design, so I was exposed to the arts since birth. Later, when it was discovered that I had a gift for rendering, I was met by boundless encouragement from my parents and their artist friends.”