The Third Eye
Organisation: Selma Feriani Gallery
Time: 15 October 2009 9:30am - 05 December 2009 6:30pm
Place: Selma Feriani Gallery, 23 Maddox Street, London W1S 2QN
Selma Feriani Gallery presents:
The Third Eye: Cutting Edge Lebanese Artists
Ziad Antar / Nadim Asfar / Pascal Hachem / Lina Hakim / Johanne Issa
Curated by Costantino D’Orazio
‘The Third Eye’ is a group exhibition of contemporary Lebanese artists curated by Costantino D’Orazio, including the artists Ziad Antar, Nadim Asfar, Pascal Hachem, Lina Hakim and Johanne Issa. The exhibition explores the conceptual development of this young generation of artists, whose practice moves away from overtly political or geocentric statements about their homeland. Featuring installation, photography and video, Selma Feriani Gallery presents uniquely engaging artworks which take as their starting point the highly personal perspectives of the artists themselves, employing new visual languages of disillusionment and irony.
Making reference to Christine Tohme’s notion, ‘The Third Eye’ refers to an artistic awareness of Lebanon in contemporary cultural transition. Each of the artists of the exhibition refers sensitively to complex social discourses fed by historical changes, particularly marked at the end of the civil war. Where war and its political intricacies had previously been an explicit message in the artwork of previous generations, now war acts as a stimulus or a trigger for other social narratives. Personal narratives, lacking definitive answers and open to international interaction produce artists and artworks which are adaptable and idiosyncratic.
The five artists of the exhibition are linked by their examination of suspended environments and the exploration of particulars. They intentionally seek dialogue with the audience through their work and achieve a wholly subjective response from the viewer, revealing the instability of contemporary outcomes.
15th October to 5th December 2009 (private view: Thursday, 15th October, 6-9pm)
Selma Feriani Gallery
23 Maddox Street,
London W1S 2QN
Gallery open: Monday to Friday 10.30am-6.30pm; Saturday 11.30am-5.30pm
For further information and to RSVP please contact the gallery on 020 7493 6090 or info@selmaferiani.com