Lara Zankoul
dal 9/1/2013 al 14/2/2013
Segnalato da
9/1/2013
Lara Zankoul
Ayyam Gallery, Beirut
Depths. The compositions of Lebanese artist are contemporary fairy tales, which explore the charm and mystery of the human psyche.
Ayyam Gallery Beirut is pleased to present Depths, the first solo exhibition of
photographic and cinemagraphic works by Lebanese artist Lara Zankoul, from 10
January – 15 February 2013.
The compositions of Lara Zankoul are contemporary fairy tales, which explore the
charm and mystery of the human psyche. Whimsical and playful, they represent an
attempt to invent new worlds, to push against the boundaries of our reality and
escape the monotony of everyday life. The characters inhabiting Zankoul’s work are
anonymous and timeless, universal symbols existing within a fantastical and surreal
landscape.
The exhibition will comprise a series of ten photographs exploring the role of
surrealism and dreams in the construction of our reality. In Drown in Her Dreams a
woman sleeps on a bed adrift in the sea, peaceful and unaware that she lies on a
dangerous surface full of secrets. Birds depicts bowties fluttering through the air,
free from their owner who watches from below. In Excess, a girl engages in the futile
task of watering the sea. Like other works in the exhibition, these images, with their
distorted perspective on the natural order, space and time, serve to challenge the role
of photography as a means of capturing truth in the world.
Also on display will be a series of cinemagraphs - still images incorporating an
element with movement - which further play with our understanding of what is real
and unreal. The absurdist surrealism of Generations features tea cascading down a
successive series of teapots in an elegant dance before finally filling a teacup below.
Heartbeat presents a young woman clad in white holding a butterfly trapped within a
glass jar upon her lap. The wings of the butterfly beat continuously in this still world,
while the colors pervading the piece - the red lacquer of her fingernails, vivid azure of
the insect and the overwhelmingly white ground - are symbolic and suggestive of a
bottled hope. In Gossiper, four seemingly inanimate teapots hang down from the
ceiling. On closer inspection, the gentle swaying to and fro of one teapot becomes
apparent, breathing life into the otherwise static image.
Born in Lebanon in 1987, Lara Zankoul lives and works in Beirut. She has participated
in group exhibitions within the Middle East and France. Part of the Shabab Ayyam
incubator programme, she was an award recipient at the 2011 Shabab Ayyam
Photography Competition.
About Ayyam Gallery
Founded by collectors and cousins Khaled and Hisham Samawi in Damascus in
2006, Ayyam Gallery sought to nurture Syria’s burgeoning and dynamic
contemporary art scene through landmark non-profit initiatives such as the Shabab
Ayyam Project, an incubator for emerging artists. Expansion into Beirut and Dubai
enabled Ayyam Gallery to broaden its scope from the promotion of work by Syrian
artists to those from the wider Middle East region. In doing so, Ayyam Gallery has
established itself as one of the foremost exponents of Middle Eastern contemporary
art to the international community.
Today, Ayyam Gallery is recognised as a leading cultural voice in the region,
representing a roster of Arab and Iranian artists with an international profile and
museum presence, such as Nadim Karam, Safwan Dahoul, Samia Halaby, Sadik
Alfraji, Afshin Pirhashemi and Khaled Takreti. A number of non-commercial
exhibitions, as well as the launch of Ayyam Publishing, have further succeeded in
showcasing the work of Middle Eastern artists with the aim of educating a wider
audience about the art of this significant region. In 2013, two new galleries will open
in London and Jeddah. Ayyam Damascus currently functions as a studio and creative
haven for artists who remain in the war-torn city.
For press information and images please contact:
Toby Kidd and Amy Sutcliffe at Pelham Communications
Tel: +44 (0) 208 969 3959
Email: toby@pelhamcommunications.com or amys@pelhamcommunications.com
Preview: 10 January 2013, 7pm
Ayyam Gallery
Beirut Tower, Ground Floor, Zeitoune Street
Monday to Friday 10 am to 8 pm