Our upcoming exhibition!

Lahd Gallery is proud to announce the premiere of Khaled Akil: The Unmentioned, its latest exhibition exploring the social, political, sexual and religious issues facing Syria.

Running for eight weeks from 12^th January 2012, Khaled Akil: The Unmentioned is an exciting collection of the Syrian artist’s unique hybrid of photography and paint techniques. The final product is a digital image made up of layers of ancient religious Arabic scripts and symbols combined with photography depicting Akil’s take on the challenges in Middle Eastern society currently.

Khaled Akil is a self-taught artist who is exhibiting in the UK for the first time. He uses social, political, sexual, and most prominently, religious issues as subject matter for his works. His perspectives are influenced by his passion for politics and human rights underlined by his academic studies.

We have been interviewed by Radical Middle Way!

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Lahd Gallery Pop Art duo Hamad & Ali!

The Kuwaiti Pop art duo, Hamad AlSaab and Ali Sultan, was featured in Lahd Gallery's first pop art exhibition. Presenting the Arab culture and history through their own contemporary vision, both Hamad & Ali believe that although pop icons around the world have transcended their time to become symbols of popular heritage and national pride, their works will reflect Arab culture in a modern and internationally accessible way.

Pop art has crossed all boundaries across all nations and cultures to produce many of the twentieth century iconic images. We are all too familiar with the expression “15 minutes of fame”, a short –lived, often ephemeral phenomenon. Because popular culture is something that almost everyone can identify readily with these days, this medium has arguably become one of the most effective means of communication.

The pop art collaboration of Hamad & Ali began when they used old film footage, vintage, magazine covers, and all sorts of material that they collected on these icons from flea markets and various archives, and interpreted them in a contemporary way. They wanted the world and their people to see that there is more to Arab culture than religion and politics, namely, a vast collection of movies, songs, musicals, and theatre that their generation of Arabs seem to have forgotten, and they wanted to revive these cultural treasures.

For Hamad & Ali, pop art is their way of expressing the emotions that they associate with their glamorous past, present and future. Their new approach of using celebrity icons from the Middle East to cast their own interpretation of the world and the current issues surrounding the region by using these icons to play out these messages is undoubtedly effective and we are all the more reminded of the arabesque motives and celebrities that made their glamorous past shine.

Kuwaiti artist Shurooq Amin and the untold truth of society girls

Lahd Gallery artist Shurooq Amin has created a collection of paintings which is based on a raw exploration of modern Arabian Gulf society, to reveal the hidden truths behind the lives of society girls in Kuwait.

The artist explores the polarity between the East and West, the idea which underpins her images. While the images do not profess to demean or criticise, nor to glorify and exaggerate, they are subtly satirical, however, in juxtaposing traditional with contemporary elements. They depict the girls in their embellished, fashionable state, an emblematic prototypical portrayal in which there tends to be a “sameness” of identity, expressing their individual sensual eroticism.

Unrelenting and inevitably controversial, the collection explores the darker depths of society’s suppression and the fragility of human nature, in a critical analysis of a group of women who choose to live their lives on their own terms. Each of the paintings will finally be shot with a small Hornet bullet, from an M16 sniper gun, providing an allegory of society’s murder of a woman’s sensuality and passion.

Shurooq Amin is one of Kuwait’s most eminent contemporary artists. She is also an Anglophone poet, a certified interior designer and a professor at Kuwait University.

Two-dimensional calligraphy by artist Madny Al Bakry

Madny Al Bakry was born in the tropical island of Zanzibar. He grew up in an environment which was a visual feast of harmonious colours enhanced by tropical sunlight. His childhood continues to influence his work to this day and is the driving force behind his creativity.

Madny’s works present a new visual stimulation for his audience. Unlike the traditional two-dimensional Arabic calligraphy in limited colours, Madny’s work is unusual in its colour palette. His distinctive style and exquisite use of colours and themes have an ethereal quality while his presentation is contemporary and elegant. Providing depth and perspective, his eye catching works lures the senses of the connoisseurs.

Madny Al Bakry now lives and works in Muscat, Oman. His work will be shown at Lahd Gallery until December 14, as part of the exhibition 'Arabic Calligraphy: The Art of The Written Word'.

Light calligraphy artist Julien Breton

Completely self-taught and unable to speak Arabic, the French artist Julien Breton has developed his own unique form of virtual calligraphy, based on a Latin-style alphabet and inspired by an Arabic and Eastern aesthetic. With a multi-cultural take on calligraphy, Breton’s work incorporates the cultural identity and style of East and West, often taking inspiration from western philosophy, hip hop and street art.

He works with calligraphy with the desire to transcend the very meaning of the sentence to generate a clean aesthetic – a balanced form that stands out from the arbitrary letter composition that makes up a word or phrase. His lack of knowledge of codes, rules of calligraphy enabled him to detach himself from any coercion and rules. That allowed him to mix styles with the desire to create a universal language, without barriers or code.

Despite not being able to speak Arabic, Julien Breton he says that everyday brings him closer to the language and culture.

Julien's works will be displayed at Lahd Gallery until December 14, as part of the exhibition 'Arabic Calligraphy: The Art of The Written Word'.

Tunisian artist Abdallah Akar

Born in Tunisia, Abdallah Akar arrived in France to pursue Science studies at Paris VII University. Very quickly, and almost naturally, he felt drawn to the visual arts. In 1980, he met an Iraqi calligrapher, Ghani Alani who has since been a powerful influence in Akar’s artistic development. In the following years, he exhibited in France as well as in Tunisia. During this time, he shared his time between Calligraphy, and multiple collaborations at the INSTITUT du MONDE ARABE, Paris, as well as numerous seminars in France and around the world and established his Val d’Oise studio – close to Paris.

During the early 2000s, he completed an Installation: 16 textiles richly decorated with calligraphy, a tribute to the Pre-Islamic poetry, followed in 2007 by a publication of Poèmes Suspendus (Muallaq’at) edited in both languages, French and Arabic.

Abdallah Akar is always searching for a renewed rendition of the calligraphic language, exploring mediums such as fabric, canvas, wood and even glass. He shows his work extensively in Europe and is a well known artist on the Middle Eastern contemporary art scene.

Abdallah's works will be displayed at Lahd Gallery until December 14, as part of the exhibition Arabic Calligraphy: The Art of The Written Word.

Don't miss Lahd Gallery's current exhibition 'Arabic Calligraphy: The Art of The Written Word'

On October 20 2011, Lahd Gallery opened its first calligraphic art exhibition in London featuring several artists from around the world. The exhibition traces the art of calligraphy to its historical origins and explores how it has developed into an exacting craft of high aesthetic sensibility.The participating artists come from varied and diverse backgrounds: Abdallah Akar and Julien Breton both from France, Madny Al Bakry from Oman, Shukor Yahya from Malaysia, Hamid Nasir from Pakistan and India born Said Adrus residing in the UK . From an early time, calligraphy became the most important art form in the Middle East, connected to all aspects of its rich and immense cultural heritage. Across several centuries, the Arabic character has been the sphere of continuous innovation and this subtle art form has further transformed into some of the contemporary forms that are seen today.

Arabic Calligraphy: The Art of The Written Word demonstrates how the different artistic styles unify a common thought as a reflection of human culture. Calligraphy is an art that is not only visually appealing, but it contains a strong message as well. The underlying essence of Arabic calligraphy remains in the power of the words and offers a strong link to its rich early heritage.

Lahd Gallery has teamed up with Fashion ComPassion, the premium ethical fashion house which supports and empowers marginalised and underprivileged women from Asia and the Middle East. A range of limited edition bags and jewellery inspired by the art of calligraphy at the exhibition is shown.