Walid Siti "Land on Fire" @ Leighton House

Currently at the Leighton House is Land on Fire, an exhibition featuring two recent bodies of work Family Ties and Precious Stones by the Iraqi - Kurdish painter and printmaker Walid Siti. The exhibition is one of four in the 'Here We Are' series of exhibitions curated by Rose Issa, independent curator and specialist in visual arts from the Middle East and North Africa.

No.9 Precious Stones series, crayon & acrylic on paper, 1998

Based in Britain, Siti no longer resides Iraq. However, he remains emotionally tied to his native land. Duhok, where he spent his childhood, continues to be a source of inspiration. Notions such as the complexity of identity, the seemingly ceaseless wars in Iraq, ethnic cleansing, the cyclical nature of violence, and family are all re-occuring themes in his work.

There is a common cohesive compositional element, an encircled monolith form. The idea of center transforms into what Siti calls "visual poetry"...as the eye moves around the focal entry point, one is able to draw conclusions as to what they feel is at the heart of each piece.

The Precious Stones series (1996-2006) creates an organic symbolic landscape. The palette Siti uses, varying shades of blacks, whites and greys, all echo the natural material that he is paying homage to. There are strong spiritual undertones throughout the series. As movement is generated around the central form, images of Mecca during Hajj come to mind. Think of the awe inspiring sight of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims as they circumambulate the Kaaba en masse. Or a scientific model of the planets circling the sun.

The second series entitled Family Ties (1999-2008) is an exploration into the notion of belonging, within the family and community. to various groups, religious, social, tribal, and of course familial. Within these groups people gain feelings of attachment and belonging that can be at times comforting or nurturing but can also be suffocating.

Through the use of geometric forms such as cones, circles, lines, and spirals, Siti works with abstract symbolism. Simplistic and yet poignant, these sober spaces speak of the continuous nature of human existence. Birth leads to death. Construction leads to destruction which in turn leads to reconstruction. His work stress the concept of universality. In each of his pieces there is a constant circular force that perpetuates the cyclical nature of being.

First was the Stone, acrylic on canvas, 177 x 310 cm 2006

Land on Fire on from the 16th of July to the 4th of August 2008 at the Leighton House, 12 Holland Park Road London W14 8LZ tel.020 7602 3316

New Ends, Old Beginnings - Open Eye Gallery and the Bluecoat Liverpool

Randa Mirza, Untitled from Parallel Universes series, (2006-08) above

Can Altay, Mirrorworld, c-print (2008) below

To describe the state of the major metropolis in the Arab region today only brings forth uncertainty. While some cities are struggling to preserve their ancestral heritage from destruction, investors have a desire to erase the old to usher in the future, other cities are an architects delight with virgin spaces and clients with seemingly endless budgets. Is there room room for diversity? Or will the individuality give way to a new urban hegemony?
The exhibition New Ends Old Beginnings looks at daily life in these cities as the vestiges of the past confront the 21st century. Through each of the works included, the exhibition raises questions concerning heritage and preservation through the artist's perspective. Tradition mixes with experimentation, fact blurs into fiction.

Can Altay's piece Mirrorworld, c-print (2008) looks at an alternative side to daily life for the construction workers in Dubai. Lara Baladi's Surface of Time (2004-07) is a collection of images that the underscores the visual poetics of time and memory. Traditional cuisine is the subject of Ziad Antar's Mdardara, super 8 film, 3min. 2006. The piece is in between video art and a "how to" style film that explores issues concerning daily life, tradition and the domestic sphere through the preparation of a home cooked rice and lentil based Lebanese dish. Randa Mirza's series Parallel Universes (2006-2008) explores the media portrayal of violence in the media. As images of death and suffering are shown in international news sources, the spectator passively observes and in effect becomes a "war tourist".

Other artists included in the show are Cevdet Erek, Tarek Al Ghoussein, Michael Rakowitz, Hrair Sarkissian, Sharif Waked, and Tarek Zaki.

Ziad Antar, still from Mdardara,super 8mm,2006

New Ends, Old Beginnings is curated by November Paynter and is currently at Open Eye Gallery and The Bluecoat in Liverpool opening the 12th of July until the 3rd of September.

A1one in the LES

A1one @ Abrons Arts Center

Visual Slang 2008: The Modern Imagination from Tehran to Tel Aviv is a group exhibition highlighting street art from some of the world's largest urban centers notably Tehran with the artist A1one and Tel Aviv with Ame 72, Know Hope, Klone, 0 cents and Smiling Bag Productions. Other artists include:C215,Cekis,Lorenzo Gomez, Adi Mahalu,Noa Mahalu,Mateo, Kenji Nakayama, Onesto, Johan Potma, Julio Rolle, and Stinkfish. From NYC there are Cern, Cope2,Chris Cortes, Indie184,Meres, Spaze Crafte One and Zito.

A1one is considered one of the Islamic World's leading graffiti artists currently working in Tehran. Included in the LES exhibition are 8 of his original pieces that push people to think, react and question. Iconic images from the Golden Arches logo to the infamous cloaked Iraqi prisoner from Abu Ghraib, a sort of macabre logo for the US led war in Iraq are stenciled on arabesque patterns. In many of his pieces Farsi and Iranian typography are incorporated. His pieces are eye-catching both for the choice of subject matter and the vibrant colors he uses.

An interview with A1one can be read at Rebel Without a Crew: Street Artist A1one in Tehran by Hrag Vartanian for the Zine at www.artcal.net.

While the exhibition is a unique opportunity to see A1one's pieces for the first in the US, it would have been great to include other artists working in cities in the Middle East such as Arofish , 3dom or the REK Crew in Beirut.

The exhibition is curated by Lois Stavsky and is at the Henry Street Settlement/Abrons Arts Center from the 17th of July to the 31st of August.