EXHIBITION

I Spy with My Little Eye: A New Generation of Beirut Artists

The Mosaic Rooms, London, City Of London, 07/11/2015 - 08/22/2015

226 Cromwell Road, London

ABOUT

 Spy with My Little Eye: A New Generation of Beirut Artists is an exhibition that explores a shift in artistic practice and individual concerns within a fiercely independent new generation of artists connected to Beirut.

 

The exhibition  explores the practices of a new generation of artists most of whom are in their late twenties to early thirties. All of them were born after the break out of the war in 1975, and thus none of them have experienced the time of peace and prosperity preceding the war. Some in this group don't remember the Civil War at all, and those who do could have no adult recollection of the conflict that ended in 1990. However, what differentiates most of them from the widely known post-civil war generation, who often focus on the use of archives and documentary, is how they bring a new set of formal and semantic interests to their work. Many favor the personal over the collective, and for the most part, they do not choose to make the Civil War an entry point of their artistic practice.

  

I Spy with My Little Eye... employs the metaphor of the game by which children secretively choose objects within their surrounding, highlighting the role of these artists as clandestine observers rather than public commentators. It provides the artists with an opportunity to showcase their works within a generational context suggesting the rise of a young movement. With materials that range from intimate personal memorabilia to the unconfined elements of nature, their work is imbued with a sense of fleetness, transience and fragility. In performances and installations that recruit conceptual and formal elements from painting, photography, sculpture and film, they are choosing to tease out the conventional boundaries that define the different disciplines from which they borrow.

The exhibition is produced by The Mosaic Rooms, A.M. Qattan Foundation, with exhibition partner Casa Arabe. It has been made possible due to the generous support of ATHR, Dina & Mohamad Ali Zameli, and Mohammed Hafiz.

Public Programs

Curators' Tour: Saturday 11 July, 12:00 - 1:00pm. Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath discuss the curatorial premise of the exhibition and the works and practices of the exhibited artists. 

Artists' Talk: Thursday 16 July, 7:00 - 8:00pm. Some of the exhibiting artists discuss their work and practices.   

Institutions and Emerging Artists: Sat 25 July, 12-1pm. A discussion on the role of open submission exhibitions and awards for emerging artists in the region.    

 

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