Omran Younes's Solo Show
Host: Ayyam Gallery
Type: Music/Arts - Exhibit
Start Time: Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 7:00pm
End Time: Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 8:00pm
Location: Ayyam Beirut
From February 4 to March 25, Ayyam Gallery Beirut will proudly present the solo exhibition of Omran Younes. Featuring a new body of the artist’s work, the show will highlight the continual progression of one of Syria’s most exciting painters.
As a member of a generation of artists that emerged from the influential school of Syrian modernism, Younes has sought to further contemporary aesthetics while building on the practices of his predecessors. This has often meant the capturing of the world around him with bold social commentary and an acute sense of observation through new varieties of painting. He frequently works within a specific theme, with each series dedicated to particular experiments in subject matter and technique.
His latest canvases, which will be debuted by Ayyam, are a departure from his previous, well-known collection of paintings that revolved around scenes of the theatre. Bringing the bravado of the stage to compositions that are invigorated by flat color fields, fluid lines and enigmatic characters, the “Theatre” series contains striking imagery—one that challenged our understanding of social norms, namely the duality (or masks) found in our daily interactions.
His current series stands as a new (and distinct) chapter of his oeuvre, as the paintings display a fresh palette, different subject matter and a more intimate investigation of human relationships. For the artist, “Each series has its own set of colors. And each subject obliges one to employ various hues…This collection of paintings is based on photo portraits that were taken before the use of color technology, it indicates a sense of loneliness and nostalgia—a longing for memories, to moments of the past.”
Oversized portraits with exaggerated figures characterize Younes’ resurrecting of this past. A minimal palette of white, black, grey, brown and pink tones gives a pensive mood to his subjects. Their large heads dominate canvases, and although there is a monumental feel to the works, the viewer is drawn into the composition through the subtle ways in which Younes applies layers of various mediums, creating dimension with washes of color and scumbled paint. This intensive method of depicting their forms provides a near sculpted look to his male and female subjects, emphasizing the impact of their memories on the artist, and giving way to the ways in which the mind reconfigures what is lost or distant.
