Galerie Tanit Beirut presents REMAINS OF THE LAST RED ROSE, a show of a series of new “black paintings” entitled Nyctophilia by Lebanese artist Abed AlKadiri, at the very moment we descend more deeply into darkness, both literally and figuratively. Dwindling fuel, silenced generators, an economy in free fall, the street all but abandoned as a site of revolt—why exhibit darkness in such dire times?  

Painted between 2018 and 2019, the works in Nyctophilia are neither a literal reaction to the prevailing gloom, nor some flourish of autobiographical introspection. Rather, they summon us to confront, consider and reflect. Perhaps, the paintings suggest, it is in this inclination and longing (-philia) for the night or darkness (nycto-) that we ultimately encounter enlightenment. Here, paradoxically, black seeks clarity—a blinding embrace of all the colors at once. A glimmer stirs beneath the sooty layers; our path is bookended by throbs of white. Yet these layered, complex works rebuff reductive binaries (hope/despair, progress/retreat) and pat interpretations. Black, in AlKadiri’s hands, is never really black.

Exhibited as a sequence of “scenes” punctuated by poet Maryam Janjelo’s prose-poems, Nyctophilia is hinged to a previous body of work, Arcadia (2016-17), a series of paintings imagining tenuous utopias inhabited by “rescued” refugees. Culled from this series, the initial work displayed in this exhibition, “The Vow” (2016), startles by its optimism: a couple, savoring a rose, is harmoniously subsumed into the gleaming mesh of forest and foliage. “The remains of the last red rose,” a line from one of Janjelo’s texts, evokes the dialectical entanglement in which Nyctophlila and Arcadia are caught. This is utopia’s flipside, harsh and riddled with despair, where black seeps into hope, just as color bleeds into darkness.

Obscurity is AlKadiri’s medium. Driven by insomnia, anxiety, and disorientation during the six months of the series’ creation, he came to relish not just black, but its transformative promise of oblivion. Disturbed waking states propelled the artist to engulf the previous day’s painting in impulsive swathes of black paint, at once obliterating and eternalizing the raw charcoal-sketched figures and the writhing colors beneath. Indomitable, though, the teeming colors dance through the charred-black surface; the figures hover, spectral yet resolute. In “Family Portrait” (2018), for example, the final work in the Nyctophilia journey, a parent-child triangle is cloaked almost entirely in black, save a patch of white swaddling the youngster. At once absent and present, the image of the family challenges its own unity, the shaky contours blurring the certitude of this presumably natural unit. The very concept of family, the work implies, is illusive. 

Through darkness, Nyctophilia evokes enlightenment. Dark is an excess of light. A jolt of colors blinds us: instantly, we see only black. “In this ode to a such a charged hue—so wound up in constructing identity—I let black grasp all the colors,” explains AlKadiri. “I wanted to give it a new meaning: one of clarity. It cuts to the essence of things and feelings.” In spite of this, Nyctophilia revels in a state of incompletion: like an insomniac’s sleep, the works are unsettled, tentative. Scrawled, scratched figures traipse across fields riddled by gaping blanks. Finely finished details cohabit alongside abrupt shorthand strokes: raw sketch marks poke out between sharp fronds of black; a muddled sky floats between a perfect frame of shadowy trees. Achievement is impossible; completion is a lie. In Nychtophilia, even black is never certain.

Courtesy of Galerie Tanit Beirut

Ayyam Gallery is pleased to present ‘Echoes and Perceptions’, a Summer Collective with works by Abdul Karim Majdal Al Beik, Afshin Pirhashemi, Athier Mousawi, Faisal Samra, Farzad Kohan, Kais Salman, Sadik Alfraji, Safwan Dahoul, and Sama Alshaibi.

“The troublesome parts of our work, the parts that are most baffling and frustrating, are in fact the growing edges”. Stephen Nachmanovitch words about art in all of its forms can also be attributed to life’s troubled times being relevant to one’s growth or decline. Artists express their hardships in their individual ways, in times of transition, uncertainty, and despair, the varied expressions and creations create echoes which vary upon the subjectivity and perception of the recipient.

Through narrative and language, the artists’ protagonists and commentaries draw on boredom and life’s obstacles, some seem trapped within the edges of their medium while others hold on to beacons of hope such as Sadik. Although the exhibition tackles emotions which are currently heightened with the global uncertainties we all face, the works mirror a set of different and often personal circumstances the artists have and continue to live through.

The ideas of loneliness, claustrophobia, and paranoia seem to have immersed themselves in routine life. Relating to Safwan Dahoul’s trapped figure, it’s experiencing the same fate at different scales, resonating with trivial repetition, spatial perception, and the theoretical aspect of distancing oneself for perspective.

Paranoia is explored further through the perplexing impact of media and social networks in our lives. Supposedly media and social platforms bring people together and keep the masses informed, yet often they are associated with pressure and lead the users towards ignorance and isolation. Athier’s ‘explosions’ exemplify information’s constant broadcast and the influx of fake news. Taking these channels’ disruption further are Faisal Samra’s works, which illustrate one’s trauma when receiving abundant amounts of news. The intensity and mass-distribution of these facts alters thoughts, actions, and opinions.

Through societal commentaries, Kais’s works evoke ideas of individualism. His work depicts how circumstances awaken various reactions within us, though individuals are illustrated together the relationship does not read. Collectivism on the other hand  is referred to by the Afshin and Abdul Karim Majdal Al Beik who use universal symbols that highlight unity.

Finally Farzad Kohan’s piece echoing the latin ‘Memento Mori’, reminding us of the inevitable death. The feeling of standstill which is illustrated in Sama’s images is just an illusion, the path is drawn and this shall pass.

Courtesy of Ayyam Gallery

Here it is a question of lines, whether vertical or horizontal, straight or twisted, with warm or cold colours:
the exhibited paintings are made of these diff erent vocabularies, which come together and oppose each
other in this series.

A dialogue develops, in which tensions may arise and mistakes can be made.
It becomes clear that a confrontation is taking place, that between man and machine. The works are
constructed in a mechanical fashion, the paintings created by the errors produced by cutting and wedging.
The toner ink is then manually applied in layers. It separates the diff erent parts of the works, aiming to
increase the variations and diff erences, enriching the contrasts and adding complexity.

It is at this stage that a link is formed between man and printer.
The artist has thus substituted himself for the machine, using error as the fundamental tool for his production.

Courtesy of galerie frank elbaz

Featuring sculptors, Mahmoud Mokhtar, Adam Henein and Armen Agop, Meem Gallery’s Summer exhibition looks at the last century of Egyptian sculpture, through three outstanding works.

Sculpture has always featured prominently in the rich history of Egyptian material culture. Stylised human, animal and hybrid forms decorated the tombs of the Pharaonic elite, and monumental structures paid homage to their many gods and kings. Considering this remarkable heritage, much of it still extant, it is little wonder that a stylistic continuum exists in modern and contemporary Egyptian sculpture.

Through these three works by sculptors spanning three generations, this exhibition focuses on the artistic legacy, continuum and development of Egyptian sculpture.

This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Adam Henein who sadly passed away on the 22nd of May 2020.

Courtesy of Meem Gallery

Mashrabia Gallery is thrilled to announce their first show of the Summer: Ibrahim El Haddad’s solo exhibition “Serendipity”! Because of the current circumstances, this exhibition is held exclusively ONLINE on ARTSY.

In continuation with his last solo exhibition “Simple Things” held at Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo based artist Ibrahim El Haddad returns with a new body of work deeper and more powerful than ever, yet imbued with a strong sense of calm and vulnerability. His figures, which evoke ancient Egyptian physical features, are represented in all their simplicity, stripped of all artifice or pretentiousness, leaving only what is essential, their noble presence and the fragility of their being. They are alive, breathing, almost frozen in time and space, thus radiating a strong sense of familiarity which encourages the viewers to further reflect on and deepen their sense of Humanity. The figures are no longer associated to their lands, cultures or traditions, but become universal beings, revealing themselves to themselves, emitting a deep emotional and human charge. The many natural elements in El Haddad’s paintings such as birds, fish and vines are not simply decorative elements, but hold a specific purpose: reinforcing the moment of communion with oneself, but also symbolises a new found connection with one’s surroundings, especially with Nature, exploited and abused for so long by mankind. Life challenges and everyday hassles pause as we form a deeper connection with the earth, and only in these conditions the essence of a person emerges. By travelling through Ibrahim El Haddad’s exhibition, the viewer undertakes a journey of introspection and self-exploration, giving him the courage to look towards the distant horizon in all tranquillity, serenity and without being afraid of what is yet to come, in all serendipity.

Courtesy of Mashrabia Gallery

Ivan Gallery is delighted to invite you to visit the exhibition “It was always in plain sight”, Silvia Amancei & Bogdan Armanu (SABA)’s first solo show at Ivan Gallery.

“It was always in plain sight” is a new site-specific project which unfolds in the gallery’s space in the shape of a cinematic plot narrated through a multimedia installation of objects, paintings, drawings and collages, multi-layered frames instead of literally moving-images. The storyline features two characters acted by the artists themselves as an upper-middle-class couple stumbling upon a victim-less presumed murder scene on an eventful night: “The two discover a stain of blood on their living room floor. A murder? Maybe, but there’s no body, there’s no criminal. Surely, it’s just a confusion.“ (SABA) The signs of anonymous violence and aggression invade their domestic environment and while trying to ignore, cover up or clean them, the two end up being devoured as well by the nameless, invisible affliction.

Employing the aesthetic tools of thriller and horror cinema, the artists aim at deconstructing the ideological mechanisms of Hollywood and the social blindness of neoliberalism, uncovering a deeper discussion on the contemporary configuration of life and its many “invisible” or rather ignored systemic threats. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic just adds up a coincidental layer of meaning on top of a previously conceived project dealing with the weak spots of today’s capitalist societies, art’s powerlessness and the artist’s uncertain condition.

Courtesy of Ivan Gallery.

After long weeks of lockdown, Sfeir Semler Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of a new exhibition at their Hamburg gallery. Curated by Ana Siler, the exhibition WHERE THE LEMONS BLOOM… brings together works by Etel Adnan, Moritz Altmann, Yto Barrada, Bettina, William Kentridge, Timo Nasseri, Ania Soliman, Christine Streuli and Akram Zaatari. “Know’st thou the land where the lemon-trees bloom” is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe that speaks of longing for heavenly distant lands: The South, the sun and light, Mediterranean flora, bright white buildings, marble, music, laughter and joy. Goethe’s romantic contemplation echoes into our present, lending its title to Christine Streuli’s series of drawings based on advertisement billboards she saw during a recent stay in Hawaii.

We are delighted to announce the first solo exhibition by Gideon Rubin in Italy.

Rubin creates paintings where the figures are rendered without their facial features. Thus the gaze of the viewer is not captured by physiognomy, but by the atmosphere unleashed by the entire images; the subjects are characterized by their positions and attitudes, by the way they move in space and dress.

Evanescent and melancholic, Rubin’s works speak of a past or a recollection that has surfaced in memory. The paint is dense and seductive, with fluid strokes that describe intimate atmospheres and complicity between the subjects portrayed. With their forcefully evocative character, these figures trigger direct empathy in the viewer.

The subjects are depicted during everyday activities; the artist draws us into moments of elusive intimacy. A couple walking with arms around each other, a young woman undressing, flowers gradually wilting become part of a temporal dimension of slowness and calm. Landscapes are barely indicated settings, colors that stand out, revealing parts of untouched canvas.

The delicate colors used by Rubin – sandy tones, grayish blues, milky whites – combined with the multiple brushstrokes on the canvas suggest the desire to bring something almost forgotten back to life and give it permanence. The viewer can complete the missing details using his own memories.

The sources for Rubin’s works are mostly found images, old photographs that belong to a personal but anonymous past, or recent images from magazine belonging to contemporary culture. The artist collects them, creating an archive of images for his paintings, a sort of act of re-appropriation of personal memories and stories. The subjects, though differing in nature, are stylistically comparable, equalized with one another. Past and present, conscious and unconscious, personal and universal are equivalent in the eyes of the artist. Rubin’s works thus narrate fragments of a wider, complex history of multiple implications, whose many sources, artistic citations and mass media culture, are reworked in a very personal pictorial language.

The erasure of facial features in Rubin’s works takes on an unintentional resonance in the present pandemic: the surgical masks we are all wearing now remove our main identifying characteristics, making us become abstract and enigmatic, but at the same time real and vital, like the subjects he depicts.

Courtesy of Monica de Cardenas.

Mohammed Kazem: Infinite Angles features new works on paper, paintings and readymade, which continue Kazem’s exploration of materiality and the visualization of light and sound. The artworks on view are imprints and records of both material and immaterial things in the world, they reveal an invisible light and inaudible sound that exists in a continuous sequence with no beginning or end. Kazem photographs light to capture its manifestations across building constructions. He also hears the sound of light as he scratches it onto the surface of paper.

Courtesy of Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde

Feature caption: Mohammed Kazem, Windows, 2019–20. Gouache, watercolour and graphite on paper, 30 x 30 cm. Part of a set of 14 works.