Ayman Baalbaki @ Agial Gallery

Face masks, cagoules, kaffiyehs and gas masks are all symbolic images in themselves. They have been given meaning and/or significance by those that wear them, as well as those who see them. They may evoke fear , pride, humiliation depending on the individual. Associations of prisoners, militants, and Arab male identity all come to mind. Together they create a significant collective of the masculine veil.

Being a refugee and having to flee with little possessions. Momentoes left behind, taking only the essentials for a building a new life in a different place. All tightly wrapped together in a bundle.

The Arab man wrapped in a Kaffiyeh. It is an image of masculinity, an image of resistance, and of tradition. In this instance it is an image that has been given full reverence to the material covering the face. Yet he looks up. Possibly to Ursa Major, to the seven stars above. Icon worthy of veneration, the secular figure has been placed in a golden niche similar to that of a cult image. This is an Arab Man rendered sacred.

Skeletons of buildings abandoned by force. The spectator is transported to a place of massive destruction. Yet these buildings tell the tale of resistance. They remain standing, they bear the visual scars and they speak loudly of their ordeal. Hallowed out, disfigured buildings missing windows, exterior walls and those families that once called them home testify to the disproportion of the violence.They remain as monuments of struggle and resistance.

These are a selection of the different ways in which the most recent body of work by Ayman Baalbaki currently at Agial Art Gallery discusses issues of place and the singular experience of being. The collections of works reflects a personal investigation into issues of identity, gender and community.

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

Tagreed Darghouth @ Agial Art Gallery

Mirror, Mirror..., Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 25 cm (each), 2008@ Agial Art Gallery

Currently at Agial Art Gallery in Beirut is a solo exhibition of recent work from Tagreed Darghouth entitled "Mirror, Mirror..." on view until the 31th of July 2008.

The current work by Tagreed Darghouth explores notions of feminine form, age and aesthetic manipulation through plastic surgery. These portraits question refashioning the body to better assimilate to contemporary social ideals of what beauty is thought to be. Each woman is captured at a moment of suspense, the healing stage, a period of the unknown. Bandages conceal the area that has been reshaped and redefined leaving a sense of wonder and mystery between the image and the viewer. How did the surgery turn out? Will each one be content with the face reflected back at them?

In contrast to the "Carnal Art" of French performance artist Orlan and her unique self portraiture realized with the help of technology, the paintings of Ms. Darghouth however are a series of intimate studies of women questioning the self, and their outward physical appearances.

Mariam, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 150 cm, 2008 @ Agial Art Gallery

Sumayyah Samaha: Darkness Ushers Dawn

The Blues, 2007, watercolor and mixed media on paper, 22.5 x 17.5inches

From May 29th to July 5th 2008 Skoto Gallery presents "Darknes Ushers Dawn" an exhibition of recent mixed media paintings and drawings by Lebanese born artist Sumayyah Samaha.


interior shot of exhibition @ Skoto Gallery.


"Atmospheric and emotive, Sumayyah Samaha’s paintings are at once expressive and internal. Saturated color and overlying textures demonstrate a command of medium, giving a multidimensional feel to the work. Although abstract, the artist’s compositions often allude to figurative elements, particularly those found in nature. This is most visible in Samaha’s work of the late 90s in which the Catskill Mountains and the dramatic landscapes of her native Lebanon serve as inspiration. In these oil paintings, vibrant reds, rich browns and, deep blues and purples give way to imposing mountainous forms that overpower moody and tumultuous skies. Suggestive of an earth that is in constant dialogue with the cosmos, these compositions overpower the viewer with colorist interpretations of the forces of nature. In a previous series, these interpretations appeared in more evident forms such as flowers or human figures.

Also included in the exhibition are several works on paper that reveal another aspect of the artist’s oeuvre. In recent years Samaha has been creating work that communicates the catastrophic nature of current Middle Eastern political conflicts. After traveling to Lebanon in 2001 and witnessing the disintegrating state of political affairs in the region, she was overcome by an intensifying sense of urgency. Upon returning to New York, she began to explore different ways of articulating the delicate nature of lives held under siege. It is at this point that her work began to change, as she explored the affect of war and occupation on civilian life. Using a variety of media—including watercolor, ceramic, charcoal, monoprints and thread—Samaha strived to capture the adversities of violence. Fragile, solemn and pensive—although executed with bold hues and vigorous brushstrokes—this series engrosses viewers in a perpetual state of devastation, as we are unable to escape the profound nature of the work. Her most recent series—a departure from such mournful examples—speaks of a new stage, one distinguished by pulsating eruptions of color in which volcanic textures create depth and dimension. Such progression has inspired the title of her latest solo exhibition, Darkness Ushers Dawn.

This recent series of oil paintings has Samaha returning to her signature vivid palette. In these works we find the vertical division of the canvas, indicating an epicenter from which explosions of energy are expelled. An innate tension is evident—perhaps resonating from the previous political series—as brilliant blue, red and orange oceans crash into darker, earth-toned hues of black, brown and grey. Although it is a near-violent collision, the dramatic meeting of light and dark, these works are optimistic and speak of life and motion.

Sumayyah Samaha was born in Shweir, Lebanon in 1939. She received a MFA from the University of Pittsburgh in 1965. Samaha has been exhibiting her work since the late 1970s and has held twelve solo exhibitions in New York—where she is based—in addition to being featured throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East. As co-founder of 22 Wooster Gallery in 1978 and an active member of the gallery for ten years, she was instrumental in creating an independent space for artists in the New York art scene. She is recognized as one of the leading Arab artists in the country."

This excerpt is taken from the exhibition press release written by Maymanah Farhat, art historian and writer currently based in New York City.