When he isn't trying to explain the importance of his father's little green book or wax poetic on how the international political system should democratize, Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi (in PBOM parlance GaddafiLite) likes to pull out the brushes and paint.

The results? Predictable but none the less hilarious. Portraits of his father (see above), obvious political pieces ("Intifada" and "The Dead" among others) and a magic horse. I think this review from Guardian art critic Jonathan Jones sums it all up pretty well:

Saif's vision extends far further than politics, encompassing love, what it is to be an artist, and every other imaginable cliche. His paintings are extensively, I would say exhaustively, represented in the exhibition and the achievement is, in its way, breathtaking. Look for a moment at his tribute to romanticism, Bella Rosa. A real rose, red and with a straight stem, is fixed to a canvas next to a painting of the same rose. Love, as the artist comments, "is a gift from God to all men," and this is a memento of a very special person in his life. There is an even greater triumph of banality in Arab Horse. A lovely horse, glowing white, gallops towards us over fuzzy green grass in front of a brown sky. The painting remarkably reproduces in oils the look, quality and sophistication of a picture done on a pavement in chalk.

You can see more of GaddafiLite's work and the work of other modern Libyan artists on his website: www.thedesertisnotsilent.com.

Hat tip to Gavin

PS: Why does GaddafiLite's website have Google Ads? Daddy must have cut his allowance.


UPDATE: Unfortunately, many of these old links are dead. Check out this new post for pictures.