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Marwan Sahmarani: Before the Blast

December 1, 2020 – January 1, 2021

Collision I, Oil on canvas

Collision I

Oil on canvas

225 x 400 cm

 

Collision II, Oil on canvas

Collision II

Oil on canvas

225 x 400 cm

Hundred Nights, Oil on canvas

Hundred Nights

Oil on canvas

225 x 300 cm

 

Nocturnal Beginnings, Oil on canvas

Nocturnal Beginnings

Oil on canvas

225 x 300 cm

Hotel of the Big Chasm, Oil on canvas

Hotel of the Big Chasm

Oil on canvas

200 x 250 cm

Floating Upside Down in a Chaos, Oil on canvas

Floating Upside Down in a Chaos

Oil on canvas

200 x 250 cm

The Axe of Ideology, Oil on canvas

The Axe of Ideology

Oil on canvas

250 x 200 cm

Mystery of Cruauty, Oil on canvas

Mystery of Cruauty

Oil on canvas

250 x 200 cm

Martyrs Square, Oil on canvas

Martyrs Square

Oil on canvas

250 x 200 cm

Theoreme, Oil on canvas

Theoreme

Oil on canvas

250 x 200 cm

The No Man's Land, Oil on canvas

The No Man's Land

Oil on canvas

180 x 225 cm

The No Man's Land II, Oil on canvas

The No Man's Land II

Oil on canvas

180 x 225 cm

The No Man's Land III, Oil on canvas

The No Man's Land III

Oil on canvas

180 x 225 cm

The No Man's Land IV, Oil on canvas

The No Man's Land IV

Oil on canvas

180 x 225 cm

An Afternoon With a Dictator, Oil on canvas

An Afternoon With a Dictator

Oil on canvas

200 x 250 cm

The Passage of the Black, Oil on canvas

The Passage of the Black

Oil on canvas

250 x 200 cm

Press Release

Leila Heller is pleased to announce Before the Blast, an exhibition of work by artist Marwan Sahmarani on view December 1, 2020 through January 1, 2021. Ninety-five percent of the works in Before the Blast were completed prior to the explosion 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. These works thus illustrate the aggravated tension in which the country was living in the eighteen months leading up to the blast. While none of the works explicitly address the explosion, they all exemplify, through brushstroke, movement, and color, the increasing strain between government and peoples that was well underway prior to the blast.

 

Breaking slightly with his previous works, those in Before the Blast are highly connected to the people and region. Geometric bodies en masse convey the chaos and conflict that constituted day to day life in Lebanon. Motifs of flesh, body, and violence populate the canvases and emphasize human destruction. One of his works, Revolution I, was hit by a window when his studio went down in the blast. Now sewn back together with a needle, it still holds the scars of the blast.

 

Within the works in Before the Blast, the background and foregrounds are mixed together and the viewer can almost experience the turmoil and tension that Sahmarani felt in Lebanon. Unequivocally, Sahmarani expresses his feelings about living in a country torn economically, politically, culturally, and structurally. 

 

Ten percent of all proceeds from Before the Blast will be donated to a charity of the artists choice to aid in blast relief efforts in Lebanon.