CMS Collection presents Nabil Nahas at Château La Coste

For the Renzo Piano Pavilion, Nahas has filled the walls with four large-scale canvases from his new series “Constellation”. The visitor becomes immediately absorbed in the dance of these spiral compositions that unfold like musical scores, expressing joy, and drawing audiences into the cosmos. Whilst the works evoke the celestial skies above, they also echo the patterns found on seabeds highlighted by the presence of sea star. Situated outside the gallery, Nahas has created his largest sculpture to-date, continuing the artist’s exploration into organic forms that are at once abstract, yet also recall structures found in nature.

Concurrently on show in the Old Wine Storehouse, Nahas will display a more personal series of work linked to his origins in Lebanon. Featuring olive trees, palm trees and cedars, which are critical to the history, culture and ecology of his homeland, the works rise up to form a gallery of botanical portraits. In Untitled, 2022 a large yellow composition has been used on a black background to show a raging forest fire. Whilst elsewhere, burnt olive trees are depicted against a background of a burning landscape. These works are a direct reference to the devastating explosion in the port of Beirut in August 2020. Whilst the somber palette and expressive brushwork portrays the collective pain and shock of this violent incident, there is a defiant manner in which Nahas depicts these trees. The strong, dark masses stand as symbols of a rich history and heritage, simultaneously evoking both pride and national trauma.

CMS Collection

CMS Collection is a young company created in 2018 by three friends who wanted to build a collection of artworks, mainly dedicated to the presentation of emerging artists who they share a mutual admiration for. There is no strict organisation, but rather a fluidity in the roles of each member.

Today, the collection includes more than 25 works and 9 artists, including recent acquisitions from Anas Albraehe and Nabil Nahas. The collection features works by Yunyao Zhang, Sam Falls, Jean Marie Appriou, Huong Dodinh, Marcella Barcello, Jeremy Demester, Alex Foxton, and Alain Bozbiciu. Drawing from their experiences in the art world, the project aims to actively support artists throughout their artistic careers.

CMS Collection also produces and organises exhibitions with the dual ambition of financially supporting artists through the purchase and inclusion in the communal collection and the development of a platform for launching or representing artists. The only rule is that the artists supported must have unanimous support from the three founders.

The creation of projects is therefore at the heart of CMS Collection, such as curating exhibitions in museums, institutions, art fairs, and collaborations with galleries, in order to offer the greatest possible visibility for the selected artists’ work.

So far, CMS Collection only represents artists present in its collection, but they are also interested in internationally recognised artists (such as Nabil Nahas) who have not yet received the recognition they deserve in France or Europe.

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