ArtSpace says it is organising an exhibition of the works of Lebanese artist Joe Kesrouani from 21 January to 12 February 2009 at its gallery in DIFC.
The exhibition titled “No Illusions” apparently showcases works that depict what a press release calls “the insidious transformation of our landscapes and its destruction in the name of ‘progress’ and ‘technological advancement’”. Drawing attention to the environmental disaster that this has caused, the works supposedly ask critical questions about the future of mankind, which given the economic circumstances doesn’t sound too promising. Apocalyptic visions abound as optimists and pessimists battle for intellectual supremacy and the poor get poorer and the destruction of the planet continues unabated. Or something like that.
The press release says that the landscapes pictured in Kesrouani’s works present a dark vision of humanity's decline and destruction. By re-imagining technology (whatever that means), it says Joe Kesrouani transforms natural landscapes and visual planes into a futuristic composition. “This facet of his work has developed in response to humankind's seeming refusal to acknowledge the permanent damage they are causing to their natural landscapes and the erosion of their sense of values,” it declares.
The blurb says that Kesrouani’s paintings and photographs represent two levels of lived experience. The subjects of his dramatic, high-contrast black-and-white photographs loom large on his prints with “visceral, extroverted expressions that take patience, intimacy and will to elicit.”
His paintings, on the other hand, by all accounts blend abstraction and figuration to convey more introverted, complex, emotionally probing narratives. There are, it goes on to say, stories buried in the layers of paint in each of his canvases (Yes, seriously). In the construction of images, it claims that Kesrouani’s architectural training plays into both his photographs and paintings.
On occasion, he apparently brings a disc jockey’s logic into his work as well – mounting an exhibition of photographs and then, six months later, ‘remixing’ those works in a show of paintings that draw on the original photographs for physical support and as a conceptual platform, giving an ultra-hipness to his art that should keep everyone happy.
Though Kesrouani is quintessentially Beiruti, his work allows no easy classification in terms of Arab or Middle Eastern representation. It claims that his work “actively breaks clichés,” rather than reinforcing them. As such, the world created by Kesrouani’s photographs and paintings is a world entirely of his own imagination. The press release declares that it is “a world nearly bursting at its seams with pleasure and danger alike”, where everything goes and nothing is exactly as it seems.
Kesrouani’s paintings purportedly take mundane objects, which are otherwise undervalued, and transform them into images of beauty and possibility. In essence, the release says, it is a “mirror of the way we must transform our vision of beauty, utility, imagination, and alter our past assumptions. The idea of using found objects is significant to him not only as a reference to humanity's waste and the importance of recycling, but also to stimulate the imagination and challenge perceptions,” it says breathlessly.
Artspace is organising the exhibition in collaboration with the Welfare Association (www.welfare-association.org), a leading Palestinian non-governmental development organisation. Donation boxes will be placed around the gallery for visitors to contribute towards aid in Palestine. Visitors can also purchase ‘Gaza Cupcakes’ at a special stand set up by Sugar Daddy Cupcakes. All proceeds from the sale of artworks as well as cupcakes and other donations will be given to charity for Gaza.