Grey Noise is holding Five Consecutive Dreams, Five Suns, And A Garden, a solo exhibition by Lebanese artist Charbel-Joseph H. Boutros. His work intricately weaves layers of intimacy, geography, and history into invisibility, creating poetic expressions that transcend existing speculations and realities. The exhibition will be open to the public until 11 January 2025.
The exhibition features a project Boutros undertook during the summer, involving a collaboration with several foreign workers. Each of them was employed by the artist for a single day, not for labor but to experience a day of rest in an orchard garden owned by Boutros in the Lebanese mountains. Each worker was invited to spend the day alone and freely, choosing their activities during usual working hours and enjoying fruit from the garden’s trees. Provisions, including lunch, water, and a portable phone charger, were provided. After lunch, the workers were encouraged to nap, using a white bed sheet for sun protection.
At the end of the day, the workers returned the sheets to Boutros, who infused them with a mixture of cement, water sourced locally, and ashes from the news of that day, symbolically preserving the dreams and hopes imbued in the fabric. These transformed bed sheets now form a central part of the exhibition.
About the artist
Charbel-Joseph H. Boutros (b. 1981, Lebanon) divides his time between Beirut and Paris (France). His artistic journey includes research at the Jan van Eyck Academie (Maastricht, Netherlands, 2013–2014) and numerous residencies, such as at Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris, 2017), Le Pavillon at Palais de Tokyo (Paris, 2014–2015), and the Vancouver Biennale (Canada, 2014).
Though Boutros was born during the Lebanese conflict, his practice avoids direct political commentary. Instead, it is subtly haunted by the echoes of history and politics, merging Romanticism with conceptual art. His work revolves around “sculpting invisibility,” using elusive elements such as dreams, boundaries, distance, sleep, darkness, and place as materials to actualise poetic narratives. Often monochromatic and melancholic, Boutros’ installations, sculptures, and videos reflect Lebanon’s historical complexities and the unease of contemporary society.
Boutros has displayed his art in many exhibitions, such as ARCOlisboa (Cordoaria Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal, 2023); The Sun Is My Only Ally (solo) (La Criée Centre for Contemporary Art, Rennes, France, 2022); Reprise and Repetition (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, SKD Museum, Dresden, Germany, 2017); the 1st Yinchuan Biennale (Yinchuan, China, 2016); and the 12th Istanbul Biennial (Turkey, 2011), among others.
The artist’s works are part of such esteemed public collections as S.M.A.K. Museum (Gent, Belgium), Centre National des Arts Plastiques (CNAP) (Paris), Barjeel Art Foundation (Sharjah), and SAMoCA (Diriyah, Saudi Arabia).
To get more information about Five Consecutive Dreams, Five Suns, And A Garden, please visit the official web page of the show.
You might also be interested in visiting Superficial Transactions, a solo exhibition by Eman Alhashemi.
