Marwan Sahmarani, Untitled. Oil on Canvas, 225 x 300 cm
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MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Revolution II. Oil on Canvas, 225 x 400 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Untitled. Oil on Canvas, 225 x 300 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Untitled. Oil on Canvas, 225 x 300 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Untitled. Oil on Canvas, 200 x 250 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Untitled. Oil on Canvas, 200 x 250 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Untitled. Oil on Canvas, 250 x 200 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, HOV. Oil on Canvas, 250 x 200 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Martyrs Square. Oil on Canvas, 250 x 200 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, HOV II. Oil on Canvas, 250 x 200 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Untitled. Oil on Canvas, 180 x 225 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Untitled. Oil on Canvas, 180 x 225 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Untitled. Oil on Canvas, 180 x 225 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Untitled. Oil on Canvas, 180 x 225 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Untitled. Oil on Canvas, 180 x 225 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Untitled. Oil on Canvas, 250 x 200 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Tàrbena VI, 2016. Oil on Canvas, 65 x 81 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Tàrbena XV, 2016. Oil on Canvas, 65 x 90 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Tàrbena XVII, 2016. Oil on Canvas, 60h x 73w cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Tàrbena XIII, 2016. Oil on Canvas, 60 x 73 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Tàrbena XIV, 2016. Oil on Canvas, 60 x 73 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Tàrbena VII, 2016. Oil on Canvas, 65 x 81 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Tàrbena XI, 2016. Oil on Canvas, 65 x 81 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Tàrbena XVI , 2016. Oil on Canvas, 65 x 81 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Bernia II, 2016. Oil on canvas, 60 x 73 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Bernia I, 2016. Oil on Canvas, 60 x 73 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Bernia V, 2016. Oil on Canvas, 60 x 73 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Bernia IV, 2016. Oil on Canvas, 60 x 73 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
MARWAN SAHMARANI | BEFORE THE BLAST
Marwan Sahmarani, Bernia III, 2016. Oil on canvas, 60 x 73 cm
Source: Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery
Leila Heller presents Before the Blast, an exhibition of work by artist Marwan Sahmarani. Ninety-five percent of the works in the exhibition were completed prior to the explosion 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. These works thus illustrate the aggravated tension in which the country was living in the eighteen months leading up to the blast. While none of the works explicitly address the explosion, they all exemplify, through brushstroke, movement, and colour, the increasing strain between government and peoples that was well underway prior to the blast.
Breaking slightly with his previous works, those in Before the Blast are highly connected to the people and region. Geometric bodies en masse convey the chaos and conflict that constituted day to day life in Lebanon. Motifs of flesh, body, and violence populate the canvases and emphasise human destruction. One of his works, Revolution I, was hit by a window when his studio went down in the blast. Now sewn back together with a needle, it still holds the scars of the blast.
Within the works in Before the Blast, the background and foregrounds are mixed together and the viewer can almost experience the turmoil and tension that Sahmarani felt in Lebanon. Unequivocally, Sahmarani expresses his feelings about living in a country torn economically, politically, culturally, and structurally.
Ten percent of all proceeds from Before the Blast will be donated to a charity of the artists choice to aid in blast relief efforts in Lebanon.
The show is on view December 1, 2020 through January 1, 2021.
