|
|
|
Best Installation - 2021
|
|
Semaan Khawam
Semaan Khawam
|
|
 |
|
How can a lonely man pity an entire nation? Relief/Installation |
|
Papier-mâché, concrete and upcycled material on canvas,185x110 cm |
|
|
This installation is a large relief work – part of a triptych that was created in the context of ‘Taba3od’ (Distancing), a collaboration between the winning artist and Fadi El Chammaa.
Khawam plasters the birds onto the canvas. Beak by beak. It is a demanding exercise that recreates the effect of birds protruding from the surface, as if they had flown into the canvas, like shards.
Escaping the fatigue of digital and online art which had taken hold during the coronavirus pandemic, El Chamaa and Khawam dove into a month of pure production in Khawam’s studio. They set themselves on a journey of creating a large three-part composition which was signed by both artists, and included ‘How can a lonely man pity an entire nationæ’ as the middle piece. One month after the Port Explosion, the two artists found themselves with a triptych that strangely embodies two periods in time: pre and post blast.
Semaan Khawam is a self-taught multidisciplinary Lebanese-Syrian artist, who has participated in over 30 collective exhibitions in Lebanon and abroad. He is nicknamed ‘birdman’, in reference to his recurring signature motif. It stands as both his alter ego and all-time favorite companion. For Khawam, the representation of the bird is the epitome of freedom. He sees birds as creatures living without borders with migrating schedules based on weather conditions, mostly to warm places, and unlike the artist, they can do so easily and freely. Drawing inspiration from his daily life in Beirut, Khawam records his uncomfortable realities, alternating between paintings, sculptures, graffiti, and other forms of art. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
© 2024 by InfoPro sal. All Rights Reserved
|
|
|
|
