Summer Show

In this first edition of a group show at The Third Line Doha, a selection of works by seven represented artists will be exhibited over the summer months. Iranian artist Abbas Akhavan’s small-scale graphite finger-drawings entitled Neighborhood Fires explore the potential for emotional intensity to arise within seemingly generic places. His larger works on paper deem irrelevant the conventions of language and communication. Large and inky, excerpts drawn from email exchanges are transformed from basic sentences to a play of words and typographical design. Raised in California, Ala Ebtekar’s interest in his Iranian roots was sparked by a trip to Tehran at age 19, sowing the seed to explore his heritage through Americanised eyes. This selection of works by Ebtekar bridges historical, geographical and cultural spaces by reconciling urban culture with Persian motifs, producing a unique, multi-faceted visual identity. Born in Paris to Lebanese parents and later gaining an architecture degree from London, it is little wonder that Fouad Elkoury has an eye for detail and structure. Multiple photographic sojourns, from Yemen to Berlin, from Marseille to Gaza and the Occupied Territories, have produced works that tell more than a story through what is captured by the lens. Iranian artist Laleh Khorramian bases her creative process in the assemblage of graphics, painting, drawing and collage. Her works on paper explore the fractal nature of her painterly landscapes in which a variety of playful and intriguing characters interplay in theatrical narratives and with choreographic movements. Khorramian depicts the spectacle of unfolding human tragi-comedies in picturesque, often abstract and deeply spatial settings. Elements of colour, line and repetition are used to create a pulse of movement and rhythm in Bangladeshi-born Rana Begum’s work. Fundamental forms dominate; shapes, lines and bold colours are repeated to create a hypnotic and spiritually evocative experience, reminiscent of the basics of Islamic art and architecture. The result is a series of tightly controlled compositions, where impeccably applied colorful hard-edge lines are coated in a thick layer of glossy resin, to create seductively tactile reflective surfaces. Susan Hefuna’s drawings map out structures in ink on layers of multi-textured paper. Hefuna’s mastery of layering, meaning and interpretation reflects the polarity of her German-Egyptian heritage. A self-described “outsider” to both cultures, her work dissects the themes of identity and displacement. Egyptian photographer, Youssef Nabil, utilizes a hand coloring technique of black and white photographs in his signature re-appropriation of the golden age of magic and glamour. Drawing inspiration from his childhood memories of cinema filled with elegance and melodrama, Nabil follows a clear lineage of the tradition of the studio photograph, constructing scenes that are both beautiful and conflicting.