The Carbon 12 gallery has organised backbone عَـمُـود الفِـقْـرِي, a group exhibition curated by Salasil, the curatorial duo of Sara bin Safwan (Curator at Guggenheim Abu Dhabi) and Zainab Hasoon (an independent curator, researcher, and artist). Running through 7 September 2024, the show includes diverse works by such artists as Nour Malas, Alia Hamaoui, Jana Ghalayini, Malik Thomas Jalil, Kaïs Dhifi, Audrey Large, and Théophile Blandet.
Crucial for internal strength and connectivity, the backbone symbolises our inner worlds and the senses of function and emotion. This concept resonates with the Arabic word “سند” (sanad), meaning someone who has your back, underscoring the backbone’s role in providing stability and connection. The exhibition delves into the complexities and vulnerabilities of these structures and examines how the image can materialise into physical forms that shift and collapse within temporal spaces. The interaction between objects and space is dynamic, with each dimension transmitting signals of our presence.
French artist Nour Malas, who seeks comfort in the mundane, employs spontaneous gestures, producing works that reveal and transport viewers into endless inner voids, capturing a narrative of confrontations, emotions, and spontaneity.
Artist Kaïs Dhifi, who divides his time between France and Tunisia, introduces an industrial aesthetic incorporating elements of history, archaeology, and fantastical realism through engraved aluminium. His creations reference ancient knowledge and futuristic technologies, interrogating the remnants of the past.
British-Lebanese artist Alia Hamaoui explores architectural structures as if viewing them from a moving car, building and distorting spaces to explore inner worlds. One of her art pieces displayed in the exhibition is Panoptic Gardens. For this moving-image work, Hamaoui has created a digital 3D Islamic paradise garden integrating aerial photographs, early video-game design, documentary photography, and Islamic textile patterns. This simulation spotlights the illusory nature of technological journeying and provides proximity to paradise despite its artificiality.
Iraqi-born, Jordan-based artist and designer Malik Thomas Jalil uses natural materials and organic techniques to narrate his psychological journey through delicately draped textiles featuring spectral figures. Meanwhile, Palestinian-Canadian artist Jana Ghalayini, who takes cues from her Palestinian heritage, introspects traditional weaving methods. Her tapestries reveal her inner world that attempts to create presence as proof of evidence. The artist investigates and reflects on the connection between tangible materials and fragmentation, documenting personal memories, experiences, and evolving ideas through gestural marks.
Through their distinct and separate visual languages, French designers Audrey Large and Théophile Blandet seek the notion of an object to provide a point of view on the world. Their work challenges the reliability of vision and our understanding of the tangible world.
To get more information about the backbone exhibition, please visit its official web page.
In addition, you might be interested in attending Immortal Mirror, a solo show by Iranian artist Aref Montazeri.
To stay tuned and be sure that you will not miss our latest art news, you can join our Telegram channel.
