BAAL: "SENSE OF AN ENDING"

ROSE ISSA PROJECTS, LONDON
7 OCTOBER - 5 NOVEMBER 2011

This is the first solo show in the UK for Baal (Mohamad-Said Baalbaki).

Baal was born in Lebanon in 1974 and, like many of his generation who grew up during the civil war, he witnessed the horror, loss and displacement that violent conflicts bring. In an ironic twist of fate, he studied at the Berlin University of Arts and ever since has lived in the German capital, which also witnessed atrocity and widespread destruction.

In “Sense of an Ending”, piles of suitcases, radios, toys and other possessions – sometimes abandoned, sometimes neatly collected – are reminders of their absent owners. With a palette of pastel shades, Baal delicately depicts impressions of an interrupted childhood beset by instability and the transience of possessions, underling the fragility of the human condition during war and peace.

Baal’s imagery resonates with anyone familiar with the Middle East today, yet also has a timeless quality that transcends specific periods and regions. An alchemist of colour, the poignancy of his subjects is transformed through a lengthy process of painting, repainting, reshaping and reworking.
The resulting refined, fluid, works verge on the abstract or metaphysical and become still-lives with soul.

Baal counts the great Syrian artist Marwan Kassab Bashi as a mentor and friend. Among his other influences are Francisco Goya, Philip Guston, Giorgio De Chirico and Alberto Savinio.