To paint with Fear and Trembling - Lahd Gallery explores dark phenomena

Artists turn themselves inside out; fear and trembling are external hints of what is really going on beneath the skin. Yet for many creatives, their pain is visible, visceral and filled with discomforting dark phenomena they expose for our scrutiny.

It is as if artists sacrifice any semblance of normality and refuse to be placated in their search for what some might see as a horrifying truth. This is a truth that can be unpalatable, edgy and threatens to unleash all that has historically been so powerfully subjugated.  The installations of Grzegorz Klaman are an example of this edginess which forces the viewer to ask unpalatable questions about the world. His intense exhibition ‘Fear and Trembling was staged at the Haif Museum of Art in 2009.

In fact, artists from the Middle East often articulate the experience of collision between cultures and experiences. It is as if some are being pressed into the gaps between east and west. These are inexorably shifting towards one another and creating overbearing pressure.

This year Lahd Gallery has exhibited, amongst others, Suhair Sibai, Wadia Boutaba, and Asli Erel. These three artists are aware of these pressures. Their work expresses fissures, fault lines but also a glimpse into the molten heart of the female experience.

Their work is about struggle, about conflicting influences of disruption and complex identities. They challenge beliefs and explore notions of fear and oppression through certain iconoclastic beliefs.

SuhairSibai’s art has at its centre a locus of displacement, division. It faces the dark phenomena lurking within each one of us. We live with it but often mask internal passion, emotion and fear beneath societal expectation, tradition and ritual. These structures attempt to maintain surface calm and acceptance of an approximation less challenging than what lies beneath.

These artists occupy an uncomfortable spot at the juncture of culture. This is a complex vantage point. Politically there is the residue of essentialism, otherness and absence to deal with as Wadia Boutaba’s work demonstrates. However, this focus on the domestic occurs alongside the impact of a new global political order and the highly politicised gender debate which questions the very notion of female ‘self’.

Realism is the new mimesis but still a representation with its own political agenda and subjectivity. These artists are not content to passively picture the contemporary world.

A realism, a brutal line of enquiry which interrogates the  ‘Why and the who says? Which challenges what mandate governments possess and for how much longer?’ Sibai’s work, for example offers up representations of strong women whose expressions are still somehow veiled by the invisible yet tangible continued misogyny evident across the globe.

Elsewhere, others, such as the Columbian artist Doris Salcedo’s installation Shibboleth in the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall  (2007-2008) investigate the dark phenomena at work in the world. Her installation was composed of a crack that ran the length of the imposing Tate Modern space. The sides of this crack were encased in a steel mesh fence.  The definition of shibboleth is maybe a custom, a way of speaking a phrase, or even a style of dress that enables specific groups or classes to be racially or socially excluded. You look into the crack and see the darkness within.

Mona Hatoum also offered an even more startling insight back in 1989  with her installation ‘Light At The End' A stunning, provocative and visceral play on the juxtaposition of light and darkness, of supposed salvation and notions of torture.

There is an intense desire to come to terms with the realism of this dramatic new world order, the abuses, censorship and repressive nature which still prevail. ‘Art is praxis…an engaged stance in the historical present.’

Asli Erel understands that even making marks are loaded with symbolic meaning. We may feel it’s easy to put a mark on a page but each letter is a story in itself and the artist is acutely aware of this fact.

Our artists make art in uncomfortable times. 

We all struggle with concealment and revelation, truth and artifice, the experienced and the imagined. The great battles between good and evil, darkness and light, ignorance and wisdom, prejudice and tolerance, suppression and liberation, are acknowledged; Halloween being one such time; the Day of the Dead being another example.

Some contemporary artists paint with fear and trembling always, in an attempt to explore this darkness and bring it into the light.

Artist of The Month - Wadia Boutaba: dichotomies and interstice

The painter Jenny Saville stated in a recent interview that she found that as a woman, being a creator of life and a creator of paintings an extraordinary privilege. It is a fact that informs her latest work on every level. As a significant voice in contemporary art work she has demonstrated how women no longer exist within a painting but are also creators of artworks.

Wadia Boutaba is a young artist who also sheds light on women’s lives and what it means to be female. Feminism is a key theme and often informs the critical reception her work receives.

In fact Boutaba occupies interstices and is very much inspired by the duality of her Moroccan and British heritage. She was born in the UK to Moroccan parents, who originated from Nador, north of Morocco. Boutaba’s paintings depict these tangible Moroccan roots and the diversity of this ancient culture. Its influence is highly significant. Boutaba calls herself the “Moroccan Artist” and her use of colour and the vivid depiction of Morocco’s unique society is redolent throughout her paintings. Yet there is a knowing which emanates from her British experience and education.

Boutaba often represents her Moroccan identity through a type of cultural dialogue. Within this exchange she poses many questions while constantly wrestling the challenges of having two identities. Her oeuvre reflects the dichotomy thrown up by such collisions of experience. The fissures are evident everywhere.

However she does believe art can provide a bridge between people and cultures.  After all, Boutaba says: ‘The struggle of being influenced by two very different societies and cultures is not something you can really be taught to handle. Finding a balance is always difficult.’ Therefore her work both concurrently celebrates and challenges the notion of what was once seen as ‘women’s experience’.

Patriarchal lineage is disrupted as Boutaba overtly questions accepted norms. Her work explores these female experiences as a residue of cultural influence. The exotic and the everyday are carefully balanced in works such as Untitled  1205 So is the conundrum of being mother, home maker, career woman and challenger of accepted cultural iconoclastic beliefs.  These complex identities can lead to a fusion of fragility and strength. This dichotomy is often presented in Boutaba’s work Untitled 1208

Having studied at art school her initial passion was textile design and her degree followed this subject. Textiles in themselves have been used by artists such as Emin and Schapiro to subvert the dominant patriarchal hegemony. Yet Boutaba returned to fine art in her late twenties. 

She once said she saw the practice of art as a way of expressing not just a personal perspective but as recording what can be observed of the everyday. Consequently women in Moroccan culture often form the basis for her work. Her narrative arch was constructed through listening to female conversations. She has been fascinated by how roots and fibres are stretched and sometimes broken by the fragmentation of communities across different continents. 

Boutaba makes little effort to hide her political interests or cultural perspective. Her paintings avoid the artifice of supposed neutrality as if to say her knowledge and experience is socially situated – please take note.

Similarities between North Africa and the Middle East also inspire her. So does societal shifts which have seen women gaining equality. Her use of colour underscores the profound change and celebration of the new. Sometimes Boutaba says her work is inspired mainly by feeling, and responses to what is actually happening within the immediate domestic surrounding as well as the wider political arena. It’s the interplay of private and public, traditional and contemporary, female and feminine which is so intriguing in Boutaba’s work. Lahd Gallery is proud to be featuring such powerful work.

Sadiq Toma – I am not an excavator or an archaeologist

‘Memory is a great artist. For every man and for every woman it makes the recollection

of his or her life a work of art and an unfaithful record.’ French author, Andre Maurois

The Iraqi artist Sadiq Toma’s work, explores the art of memory or ars memoriae. This is an ancient collection of techniques which aids recall by managing the impressions memory creates. It allows a person to improve their ability to remember while also helping with the formulation of ideas.  Toma is also keen to point out memory is a construct. He says it is a fragment, a subjective perspective and should always be viewed with an element of scepticism.

The overall concept of ars memoriae has existed for thousands of years. Pythogorans and Ancient Egyptians were certainly aware of techniques such as associating emotionally striking memories with specific locations. Or making inks between groups of images or images with schematic graphics like signs. All forms of markings do, in fact all play their part. Toma has used these practices to represent perspectives in new and dynamic forms.

For Sadiq Toma, it is evident, new themes and inspiration, ironically, come from distant memories and the past. Yet, Toma is not content to merely excavate his own personal memories. He also embraces the memories of an entire ancient civilisation belonging to Iraq. He constantly searches for a sense of fulfilment across a canvas. Although Toma, like all humanity, is influenced by the past, he is equally concerned by the present or future. Both of which are destined, in themselves, to be transformed into memory.

Sumerian art is also an influence, but Toma has no desire to be either excavator or archaeologist. He constantly searches for a fresh view of life, death, love and ritual as seen in his work entitled, Love Poem. He acknowledges Gilgamesh and his own quest and questions about the fate of mortals.

However, simply by having an acquaintance of Sumerian art, such as fragments of clay tablets depicting cuneiform writing, is enough to affect the present. Toma transforms hidden visions into contemporary forms such as Amorous Poem 8.  By employing a variety of materials, Toma’s work explores and reflects an intense belief this specific period was one of the most profound influences within his Iraqi roots.

The paintings exhibited at the Lahd Gallery(link) show an artist who has selected, rejected, reworked and represented, almost as if he has created a  form of ‘tagging’. Arabic letters and technical tools are lifted and represented. The construction of the artworks sometimes spill from the frame as memory burst from the confines we attempt to construct for it see Amorous Poem 3

He may use characters as decorative texts but does not make any reference or specific indication as to  where they have been gleaned see Tree  Sometimes these references are obscure and at other times well known poetic texts. Typography is refashioned. Words and symbols are seemingly scattered across the picture. Therefore Toma’s contrast, between the construction of calligraphic form and the semi abstract natural background, present a provocative dichotomy. They function as a form of palimpsest; here the spiritual and unconscious appear and disappear within works such as Amorous Poem or Oasis.

As Tagore once explained:

‘'Oh my soul, don't seek for eternity but do your best to achieve the most of your limited life.'  

Sadiq Toma has certainly taken these words to heart.

Brief Biographical Detail of Sadiq Toma

Sadiq Toma is an internationally acclaimed artist, with roots in Baghdad Iraq. He was born in 1952 and worked as a freelance illustrator in the Iraqi Museum and was a poster designer, illustrator, animator and designer. He is now a full time artist.

Toma’s work, explores the art of memory or ars memoriae, where his new themes and inspiration come from distant memories and the past. Yet, Toma is not content to merely excavate his own personal memories. He also embraces the memories of an entire ancient civilisation of Iraq. He constantly searches for a sense of fulfilment across a canvas. Although Toma, like all humanity, is influenced by the past he is equally concerned by the present or future which are both destined, in themselves, to be transformed into memory.

His work has been exhibited in Iraq, London, Leicester, Dublin, Sheffield, Scotland, Japan, Korea, Denmark, Sharjah, America, France, and Finland. Solo shows are equally diverse: London Kufa Gallery, Argel Gallery, Jersey Gallery and Artspace Galleries.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgJGlFHnXuQ

Lahd Gallery is proud to present Suhair Sibai , our artist of the month.

SuhairSibai says of her own work that its focus is division and displacement of the ‘self’ within society. 

This is a complex perspective, both for an artist and for the work itself as they sits at the juncture of parallel worlds. Politically there is the residue of essentialism, otherness and absence to deal with. However, this occurs alongside the impact of a new global political order and the highly politicised gender debate which questions the very notion of female ‘self’.

Sibai’s work offers up image after image of strong women whose expressions are still somehow veiled by the invisible yet tangible continued misogyny evident across the globe. 
Each figure, the artist, suggests is a vehicle, a cipher, a conduit for her intent. 
Her philosophy is grand, some might say, impossible as through her art ‘universal truths’ which ‘transcend boundaries of place, gender and time’ will be uncovered.
Suhair Sibai was born in Syria in 1956 and confidently straddles the divide between Los Angeles, New York, Paris, London, Dubai and Damascus or east and west where her work is continuously being exhibited. Sibai is therefore fully conversant with the blurring of boundaries. Globalisation, multi-culturalism and the clash between secularism, tradition and religious fundamentalism all fight to be heard and are strangely present in her output.

Division and displacement are prevalent from the faces which confront the viewer in Sibai’s paintings. The colours suggest vibrancy, life, euphoria even, but the figures themselves exude otherness, melancholy and an other-worldly atmosphere which hints at suffering, loss, isolation, abuse even which is unsettling and provocative in equal measure. The viewer is involved in the narrative and each piece appears to cry ‘Look at me!’ but simultaneously, ‘Don’t look!’

Orientalism, which was such a seminal part of the West Imperialist hegemony in the 19th century, may have been exposed for the deeply colonial construction it was. But perhaps, Sibai feels discord, displacement and division of the self is actually the product of our new world order where identity is no longer ‘a given’ (sic) and we occupy simultaneous notions of self.

Therefore philosophies and beliefs are taken and ‘mashed’; metaphors are re-applied, interstices are breeding grounds for clash and extremism, distortion and alteration. Sibai demonstrates clearly the integral relationship between representation and context, meaning and audience.
As Manet’s  Olympia challenged the male gaze in the 19th century, Sibai’s young women may well be defiant and say, ‘I am here and I am not scared.’ 
But there is a hint of an underlying menace lurking somewhere beyond the frame which suggests these may be brave words. The clever contrast of uplifting tonal palettes with the intensity of the stare is profound. The viewer is tricked into expecting one thing and being presented with a different vision. ‘No Fear’  is itself enigmatic, disturbing yet rallying at the same time.
In fact, one of Sibai’s paintings has been chosen as the cover for a new novel entitled Dreams in the Medina  by Kati Woronka .Set in Syria and is a coming of age story of a group of young Syrian women whose education changes their lives. Sibai’s work is obviously a talisman for young women who are challenging expectations just as the artist does in her paintings.
Suhair Sibai’s work was exhibited at the Lahd Gallery  in an exhibition entitled Sweet Melancholy  which closed in March 2013. 

You can still see her last available works at http://shop.lahdgallery.com/product/suhair-no-fear/

Breathing room for the spirit-Sotheby’s hosts ‘Three Generations’ Monday 22nd of july 2013, Sothebys Bond street

Certainly global trade, influence and collaboration might typify the past fifteen years in future history books. ‘Adapt or die’ is another adage of both contemporary business and the art world. Artists clearly understand how revisionisms, creating palimpsests, appropriation and representation are common threads within the human experience.

Disrupting narratives and deconstruction mean there are no limits regarding interpretation. This is evident in the new exhibition of art from the United Arab Emirates hosted at Sotheby’s London. Perhaps this may not fit basic assumptions of this seemingly traditional auction house but even here you will find difference in this exciting show.

Some may be unaware that Sotheby’s opened an Abu Dhabi office. Therefore it should come as no surprise their latest exhibition showcases 12 works by emerging artists from the UAE. 

Robin Woodhead, Executive Vice President & Chairman of Sotheby’s stated the UAE ‘has distinguished itself as a growing force on the international scene…with one of the most ambitious cultural programmes.’ 

It is obvious the Arab world is constantly developing and this is a pertinent time for the UK to experience that transition first hand.

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said: ‘The visual arts has the power to transcend borders and boundaries. It ignites the imagination and encourages the pursuit of knowledge.’

Certainly, the artists participating in the ‘ThreeGenerations’ exhibition in Bond Street, reflect a spirit of innovation rooted in the desert landscapes of Al Dhafra [the Western Region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi]. Their creations are infused with the cultural heritage they have inherited. 

However, there is an urgency and revisionist aesthetic at work which brings excitement and a definite pushing of boundaries and expectation.

The Three Generations exhibition gives London the opportunity to see what is happening in the UAE and contemplate its past, present and future. What it does do is suggest the visual art sector is flourishing. Creative expression, drawing on tradition as well as breaking new ground thrives. These works are not an attempt at creating a narrative. What they do is showcase the extent of the creative expression evident in the UAE right now.

What is art?

Mohammed Al Astad Al Hammadi for example explores what traditional Emirati society is based upon then takes these core elements and transforms them. This is achieved by prompting both an emotion and the notion of collective cultural memory. He uses organic processes juxtaposed with notions of value and ownership. His work Midnight, demonstrates the impact of nature as iron is buried alongside a canvas. It is left for a couple of weeks. The natural oxidisation processes create abstraction and so each canvas is unique. It is an amalgam of artistic intention and natural process. It explores the notion: what is art? The work also asks what is its own aesthetic value?


Al Hammadi does this while also offering commentaries and juxtapositions. What is the dynamic between death and energy, difference and decay? It is also tangible proof, if you like, that rust never sleeps.Najat Makki on the other hand has used her travels to offer another perspective and illustrate the clash between traditional notions of gender and contemporary international feminist perspectives. ‘Untitled’ uses colour to intensify the metaphor of the female experience rooted in tradition, expectation, belief and culture. 

Although the UK may not have experienced the work of these artists they have an international reputation and represent an artistic aesthetic which began many years back. These artists are simply the next generation. This exhibition illustrates the tension between concealment and revelation, modernity and history, cutting edge and tradition which typifies this region of the world.

Sumayyah Al Suwaidi’s work for example challenges expectation by digitally transforming the mundane and infusing an image with an emotion. She has been exhibiting since 2003 and winner of L’OFFICIEL Arab Women Award 2010 for best new talent, Emirates Woman Achievers Award 2011 and Emirates Woman of the Year 2011.All twelve artists represent a new aesthetic. Traditions are filtered through the experience of these practitioners who explore the role of the imagination which challenges perception. As artists JalalLuqman says:

“I wanted to present an Arabised version, digitally repainted”

                              

A 1000 cocktail sticks you should see, before you die! : Lahd Gallery visits the Tara Donovan exhibition at Louisiana Gallery, Denmark.

Perhaps you may not associate Denmark with cutting edge contemporary art. Yet if anyone has read Patricia Shultz’s book, ‘1000 places to see before you die’ you will already know the LouisianaMuseum of Modern Art epitomises the Danish perspective on modern and contemporary art and is a must see in itself. In fact, as a location, the Louisiana is the 85th most visited gallery in the world and having now visited we can see why.


On the shore of the Øresund Sound in Humlebæk, 35 km (22 mi) north of Copenhagen, Denmark we pitched up, ostensibly to see the exhibition of renowned American artist, Tara Donovan . But the Louisiana itself is a pertinent juxtaposition of the colonial façade and a bright minimal space within. These clean lines actually do justice to an artist who likes to approach her work in terms of science and experiment.


Donovan is an experimental alchemist.


Donovan has been quoted as saying she is ‘an alchemist’ who strives to transcend materials. This is evident throughout this first European exhibition of her work spanning the years 2004-2012. We were so impressed by the clarity of her vision even though, ironically, she does her best to make her chosen materials almost disappear.


This is an exploitation of low profile materials.


What fascinates the viewer is the use, of what Donavan terms, ‘low profile materials’. She exploits the anonymity of easily accessible mass produced objects such as cocktail sticks or plastics and revels in the idea these chosen materials possess little identifying colour. Compare this to the vibrant use of coloured plastic by Tony Cragg in the 1980s or the early highly pigmented sculptures of Anish Kapoor , for example. It marks a definite aesthetic shift.


An architect, scientist and clinical aesthete.


Her work appears clinical but what gives these unassuming shapes their potent sense of drama are the translucent or light-reflective qualities which are activated by body movement as a viewer passes. The beauty of these sculptures is actually inherent in the magical transformation from unremarkable piece, into stunning form. Certainly Donavan is both architect and scientist and takes location as a malleable aspect of the whole sculptural experience.


Donovan’s work is not a polemic on the mass-produced, or even the environment.


No preparatory drawings are made. Donovan feels the sculptures are like drawings in themselves. She is adamant her practice does not mimic nature itself but the ways of nature. As a sculptor she is keen not to be pigeon-holed. Her work is not a polemic regarding the mass produced, or even its counterpart, the environment. The sculptures are very obviously about form but their minimalist structure, bland colours and lack of titles allow viewers to bring their own intentions and experiences with them. In this instance the beauty and intensity of the Louisiana country house, the water and the sculpture gardens inform these installations too. It was a heady combination.


From the microscopic to massive organic structures


Of particular fascination to us were ‘Mylar & hot glue’ a sculpture created by rolling up sheets of Mylar to form cones. These small units are then glued together to create more dramatic molecular structures. The second installation we found compelling was constructed with long cocktail sticks of some kind, which together look like iron filings or a mineral such as porcupine quartz or even ice crystals. Donovan focuses in on the microscopic as well as panning out with a director’s eye, to give us clinical yet organic sculptures, another oxymoron, that surprisingly emanates an intensity which defies attempts at anonymity.
A visit to both this exhibition and the Louisiana is a profound experience and is highly recommended by Lahd Gallery, London.

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The exhibition at Louisiana has been created in collaboration with the Arp Museum, Bahnhof Rolandseck. A catalogue is available in English and German with preface by Oliver Kornhoff, director of the Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck and Poul Erik Tøjner, Louisiana’s director. Also included is an interview with Tara Donovan by Jutta Mattern, curator at the Arp Museum, and Mette Marcus, curator at Louisiana, and an essay by Marietta Franke.


http://www.louisiana.dk/uk/Menu/Exhibitions

The exhibition is part of the exhibition series LOUISIANA CONTEMPORARY.

Shubbak- A window on contemporary Arab culture Monday 24 June 2013, Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London SW7 2RL

“Shubbak is a revelation of the solid bond between London and the Arab world”.

Lahd Gallery was delighted to contribute and celebrate the launch of Shubbak 2013, showcasing over 70 events in more than 30 venues throughout the city from the 4th – 24^th of July 2013.

The wide-ranging programmes offered by the Shubbak festival include the visual arts, film, music, theatre, dance, literature, architecture, lectures and dynamic talks. Unquestionably one of the most electrifying events this summer!

Shubbak features works by contemporary Arab artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians, choreographers and architects.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and Omar Al Qattan, Shubbak Festival’s Chairman and organiser were among the main speakers of that startling opening evening.

The Mayor of London with an exceptional humour declared that he was ‘very proud to be hailed I think as the "Mayor of the eigth Emirate’ referring to London’s popularity at this time of year.

He also spoke frankly about being a ‘proud possessor of a Muslim Great Grandfather - who would frankly be astonished that his great grandson became the mayor of London’

The evening went on with a magical oriental atmosphere, delicious food, exotic drinks and guests from all over the world celebrating the weeks to come of Arabic festivities.

For more information on the next events visit http://shubbak.co.uk/