Lebanon - Art and Culture - The Power of Color
Nishee
by Helen Khal
Special to The Daily Star
Color is to painting as notes are to music, as words are to poetry.
Vincent Van Gogh once said, “The painter of the future will be a
colorist in a way no one has been before.” He was right. For too many
centuries, the human eye has been accustomed to reading a painting
through its images, wanting to conceptualize its meaning in words and
remaining blind to the intrinsic power of color alone to break through
thought and ignite emotion.
I was thinking about this the other day when I stopped by at Fransabank
on Hamra Street to see the exhibition of Elie Kanaan, veteran painter
and a top name on the Lebanese art scene. A self-taught artist, who
since 1949 has chalked up 50 one-man exhibitions in Lebanon and
internationally, Kanaan is first and foremost a colorist. Ever since he
began painting, he has been enamored of color rich, succulent and
vibrant hues ranging from one end of the rainbow spectrum to the other.
With uncommon virtuosity, he makes color bow to his bidding. Where
normally, according to all visual principles of color activity, blue
should recede and red bounce forward, he forces them to act otherwise.
In the process, he produces a lively unusual perspective in which color
alone, without the guidance of line, pulls the eye in and leads it along
a seductive path of abstract expressionistic forms that bounce in and
out of the picture.
Kanaan, however, is still somewhat concerned with figurative imagery.
Often he introduces romantic elements of reality that tend to interfere
with the emotive content of his color. Though many people welcome these
nostalgic references to the real world, I am distracted. Considering the
character of his potential, I would prefer that he divorce himself from
obvious images and let the power of color speak for itself. Forget ideas
and meaning, I would tell him. Lead us into the domain of pure sensual
experience, where the eye may receive color as the ear receives music.
Van Gogh would have liked that.
l Sculptors are not usually interested in color. To them, it is the
creation of form solidly and expressively occupying space that is of
primary concern. Not so with Mona Saudi, who has spent this past year
dipping a brush into color instead of chiseling into stone. The india
inks and acrylics on paper that resulted are a surprise, coming as they
do from one whose only interest in color so far has been the natural
hues of the marbles, limestones and granites she sculpts into elegant
three-dimensional form.
That Saudi is exhibiting the color series in her atelier a small,
tree-sheltered house hidden in a cul-de-sac just off Rue Justinien in
Ras Beirut turns the show into a three-birds-with-one-stone event.
You’ll see handsome works on paper, you’ll see marvelous sculptures
gracing the interior and filling the garden, and you’ll also have the
pleasure of exploring the environment where an artist lives and works.
Saudi approaches her adventure with color from two separate directions.
In the acrylics, she works on a two-dimensional plane, applying even
strokes of one color orange, blue or red in varying tonalities to
build up a simple geometric design of horizontals laddered on a vertical
pole. They suggest the playful totems of a child, but are more likely
introspective parallels of thought stemming from the artist’s dialogue
with herself.
In the india inks, Saudi ventures beyond private reflection to create
geometric patterns related to Islamic art. The syntax of her design is
made up of repetitive triangles, squares and circles, given texture and
depth by graphic scribblings rooted in Arabic calligraphy. Here, color
is subdued, intricacy of design replaces simplicity and impulse is
contained within an austere order of form.
l A number of galleries have put together collections for the holiday
season that offer art works at affordable prices. If you are looking for
something to give that special person on your list who happens to have
everything, is difficult to please and also loves art, try these for
size and price. (Telephone to check on exact location, hours and closing
date of show.)
l Epreuve d’Artiste, Rue Sursock, Achrafieh (01) 563-911. Small works
by 40 artists chosen especially for its annual “When Artists Amuse
Themselves” show. A literal circus of paintings, mixed media, works on
paper, photographs, ceramics, pottery, jewelry and small sculptures in
various materials. $20 and up.
One aspect of the show sure to draw a crowd is the presence of Yahya el
Hakim, accomplished Arabic calligrapher, who will execute your name or
whatever other you wish in graceful Arabic script. Saturday is his last
appearance, and only between 2:30 P.M. and 7:00 P.M.
l Agial, Rue Abdul Aziz, Ras Beirut (01) 345213. Paintings, mixed media,
graphics, ceramics and sculpture, all selected from the gallery’s
eclectic stock of early and recent contemporary Arab art. $50 and up.
l Alwane, Kaslik (09) 832174. Hundreds of contemporary works in all
media by more than 50 Lebanese artists, plus the wide selection of
unusual antiques, curios, crystal, jewelry and handicrafts the gallery
is noted for. $10 and up.
l Fadi Mogabgab, Horsch Tabet Avenue, Charles Helou (01) 500902.
Compelling primitive masks and statuettes in burnished wood from Africa.
$300-$800.
l Janine Rubeiz, Raouche, Ras Beirut (01) 868290. Small works in a
variety of media by established well-known artists who have had
one-person shows in the gallery, including Joseph Harb, Rose Husseini,
Huguette Caland, Hannibal Srouji, Greta Naufal. $45-$350.
l Maraya, Ave. Sami Solh, Furn el Chebak, (01) 390555. Small paintings,
prints, ceramics and sculptures by up-and-coming artists, among them
Dima Hajjar, Mona Jabbour, Huda Kassatly, Yolande Naufal, Antoine
Berberri and Samir Mueller. $40-$500.
l Rochane, Verdun Plaza, Rue Verdun (0l) 792238. Collages by Pascale
Makhlouf, sculptures in ceramic and bronze by Mona Bizri, pottery by
Dina El-Zein and small paintings, collages and works on paper by Yasmin
Taan, Georges Bassil, Mary Roud, Leila Kazma and Amal Freiha. $45 and
up.