Zekria Ibrahimi

A HOMELESS artist has spoken out against the “exclusive” nature of art galleries as he says he has no plans for an exhibition.

Zekria Ibrahimi has been coming to Goodge Street Station every Tuesday since just before Christmas. Here, he gets a hot meal from volunteers at Islington-based charity, the People’s Army, and has been painting them in action.

“Normally I sketch in Soho,” he said. “I haven’t got much to eat sometimes so I pop in here. Some people might condemn it as a sticking plaster on a gaping wound, but it’s something. You can see round here, people often feel lonely, they don’t have anyone to talk to. This helps.”

Hazel Jhugroo, who leads the charity, said she was “so excited” that Mr Ibrahimi had painted her.

“I get so happy because everybody loves his work, and chats to him about it. I love art. I’m going to frame it and put it on my wall,” she added.

Mr Ibrahimi has been painting for more than 40 years, often sitting on the streets of Soho to sketch iconic scenes of its square or buildings. He said his art could be described as “real life”, as he draws inspiration from his surroundings and everyday activities.

But despite his talent, and encouragement from friends, Mr Ibrahimi says he has no desire for his art to be exhibited.

He told the Tribune: “I wouldn’t want to have my own exhibition. And the reason I wouldn’t want to have it is because I think the galleries are too exclusive. Art is now in a middle-class cage. Museums can be like mortuaries, where pieces of art are like dead things to be gawked at and not to be participated in.”

Mr Ibrahimi said that he prefers street art as you are “automatically exhibited because of people coming past”.

“Whereas galleries”, he added, “I don’t know if you’ve been in them, they have unfortunately a very exclusive ambiance. The small ones, always the pattern is, there’s somebody in the back with a laptop, and there’s whitewashed walls and everything looks very neat and tidy but the art often isn’t up to scratch.”

Among artists he does count as up to scratch is Caravaggio.

“Michelangelo could be described as a complete artist, but Caravaggio as a painter, no one quite matched him,” he said.

Mr Ibrahimi describes himself as semi-homeless, having battled with mental health issues, he often finds himself fluctuating between having a house and being on the streets.

“I’ve been semi on the streets in central London, and semi in a place, but someone else’s homelessness and mental health problems have impacted on me,” he said.

The artist added: “It’s wrong to judge or condemn people who feel they can’t cope with others’ homelessness. The problem is with authorities and a lot of homelessness and drug addiction and mental health issues seem to get dumped elsewhere. They say ‘this is a problem, we don’t want it round here’, and they dump it somewhere else.”

And for Mr Ibrahimi, not even his art provides a form of stability.

“It’s not a constant, it’s not an escape, it’s not a grounding,” he said.“In many ways it’s a burden. I think many people feel art is a sort of crucifixion. Artists and martyrs. There’s some unfortunate truth in that.”