This article appeared in Being Samia Halaby Issue #68 dedicated to spotlighting the journey of Samia Halaby, a Palestinian-American artist whose resilience shines through despite challenges like the cancellation of a significant exhibition at Indiana University. Halaby’s remarkable year, marked by global exhibitions and well-deserved acclaim, underscores her ability to transcend borders with art that prompts reflection on themes of identity, belonging, and social justice, serving as a bridge across cultural divides.
In the underbelly of the contemporary art world, emerging Arab artists navigate a landscape marked by both optimism and challenge. Historically, artistic movements have been dominated first by European and then American artists. Amidst this emerging, dynamic group of Arab talent, Samia Halaby has forged a path of innovation, supported by a handful of visionary supporters. The protagonists in her journey include patrons of her art, but more importantly, the gallerists and collectors who believed in her. Halaby’s trajectory has been profoundly shaped by the steadfast guidance of the founders of Ayyam Gallery and Sfeir-Semler Gallery. Through their mentorship and belief in her vision, she has transcended barriers, expanding her artistic horizons onto a global stage and opening new channels for her work, and Arab art in general. Yet, Halaby’s ambitions extend beyond personal success. With a deep-rooted connection to her Palestinian heritage and a continued pursuit of justice, she established the Samia A. Halaby Foundation, a platform dedicated to amplifying the voices of Palestinians and benefiting working-class Palestinian children and women living within the borders of Mandate Palestine (1920-1948) and also within other Arab countries. As her story continues to unfold, Halaby’s journey exemplifies what can be achieved with the collaborative efforts of skilled and determined backers. The following is a collection of commentary from those who have been ringside, and a word from a foundation that exemplifies the power of art as a catalyst for social change and empowerment.
Borderless Art: Andrée Sfeir-Semler advances artistic prowess in step with a universal zeitgeist
How did your collaboration with Samia Halaby begin, and what drew you to her work?
I regret that it took us as long as it did to start representing and collaborating with Samia Halaby. She is a beautiful artist whose work I had been observing for many years, but she was already represented by another gallery from the Middle East, and I did not want to share the representation. I first visited Samia’s studio in New York around 2015 or 2016. The way you read work depends a lot on the context. I was quite fascinated; I think I spent around six hours there with her. In 2022, we met again at Frieze in New York, and she again expressed interest in working with us, and we took her on. The next year we gave her a show in Beirut, presented her at Art Dubai and showed one of her paintings at Frieze London. She was very well received. Within a year, we had placed her in several important collections.
From your perspective, what is Samia Halaby’s trademark? How does she contribute or challenge the contemporary art scene?
One of the things that attracted a lot of attention when we showed her work is her mathematical approach, the fact that she composed her animated, early digital paintings on an Amiga computer as early as 1986! This was quite revolutionary. Samia’s paintings are beautiful, constructed and planed with patterns and geometrical shapes. Her body of work has always been contemporary, edgy, and within the spirit of her time. During the opening of her recent show in Hamburg, the public and the collectors where fascinated by Samia and by her works, despite the fact that the Hamburg public generally is quite difficult when it comes to intense colours as they tend to prefer a minimal aesthetic. Her work was very well received as soon as we started showing her. She immediately gained the respect of many curators, including the chief curator of the Serpentine, art critic and art historian: Hans Ulrich Obrist.
From an artistic evolution perspective, the intensity of her colours became much more intense after she went to Hawaii and saw these incredible colours, after years of living in grey New York. What it did to Gauguin, it did to her too. Gauguin came back at the end of the 19th century and suddenly, his sky was pink. Similarly, with Samia, when I hang a painting from 1982 next to a new work, the colours clash. Samia also has the unique characteristic of having two different cultures embedded within her work. She has Palestinian roots but has lived most of her life in the USA, since 1952. Samia actively defends her Palestinian origins, deeply connected to both her heritage and spirit. Despite Palestine’s status as a non-member observer state in the United Nations, her work is firmly rooted in US culture, reflecting a Palestinian soul. Nothing about her work is oriental, except maybe the fact that her paintings are not composed around a central perspective. The patterns and coloured paint strokes give the illusion that the painting continues beyond the edges of the canvas. European art has a centre of gravity and perspective, while her work is inspired by Arabic architecture, with repeated structures and patterns that could go on endlessly. Still, when you look at one of her very large paintings, it could be hanging in any major gallery in Chelsea. Her artworks place her firmly within the zeitgeist of her time. The word ‘zeitgeist’ is German, but it is used in all languages, and I love it because of what it expresses and because you can’t really translate it, except to say her work is very much rooted in the society she lives in now, in the United States.
How do you foresee your collaboration with Samia evolving and what impact do you think her artistic legacy will be?
We have been very successful in placing her work in major collections in less than two years: the Centre Pompidou, the Lenbachhaus in Munich—which has the largest number of Kandinsky’s—acquired some of her work. The Guggenheim, Abu Dhabi acquired the complete series of Amiga films from 1986, so they now have the largest number in a public collection. The Jameel Arts Centre bought her work and Samia’s art was just shown at the Venice Biennale, where she was awarded the special mention of the Jury.
Next, we will be presenting her at Art Unlimited at Art Basel, with a very large painting of 4.5 metres and ten digital works. She will be receiving an honorary title in Monaco and will speak at the Tate Modern in February 2025. Another thing worth mentioning is that when her Retrospective at Indiana University was cancelled in January 2024, at the height of the Israeli-Palestinian war, it caused a lot of backlash. The museum’s director sent a two-sentence letter to announce the cancellation, following a letter from a state representative saying the university could lose federal funding if so-called “antisemitism” was allowed on campus. Ultimately, that widely publicised story adds to her legacy and relevance as a Palestinian-American voice, and this will live on through her work. Samia is eighty-seven and she is a very strong lady. It is incredible what she has achieved and continues to achieve.
About Andrée Sfeir-Semler
Andrée Sfeir-Semler established her gallery in Germany in 1985, followed by a second space in Beirut in 2005, revitalising a former factory. Focused on international contemporary art, she promotes Arab artists such as Walid Raad, Akram Zaatari, Wael Shawky, and Etel Adnan, taking pride in establishing and developing the careers of key artists from the Arab world. Engaging globally, the gallery participates in major art fairs from the Venice Biennale to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul and MoMA, collaborating on ambitious projects that propel her artists onto the international art scene. Samia Halaby’s Fragments of Time, a collection of paintings and digital works, is on view at Sfeir-Semler Gallery in Hamburg through August 24, 2024.
Courtesy the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery Beirut/Hamburg. Samia Halaby: Sfeir-Semler
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