Alaa Sharabi & Juhayda AlBittar
Material Resilience
Material Resilience’ In this year’s iteration of Material Resilience, Q0DE is inviting Syrian artists now based in the UAE, Alaa Sharabi (1988) and Juhayda Bitar (1991) to exhibit their new work jointly for the first time as a married couple in Amman, Jordan. Both artists will correspond to the theme of ‘Material Resilience’ by bringing their own self-reflections and experiences to the exhibition through the medium of painting and print-making.
‘Material Resilience’ is an exploration of how individuals cope with feelings of loss, grief, fear and exile; transitioning and falling through the stages of life. During the transition, the past and the present overlap; the period of creative exploration triggers old memories and imposes questions for the future.
Sharabi and Bitar are united by the different ways they choose to reflect on a lived experience somewhere in-between. That transition bears the potential for them to navigate through the unknown and becomes a playing field for nostalgia, hyper-recollection and speculation that results in an attempt to reconcile with nature and the universe. Art, therefore, becomes a refuge, a catalyst for hope, and a dialogue between ‘X’ and ‘Y’ who have moved from one country to another, from a singular to a plural state, and from realism to abstraction.
Q0DE is a Jordan-based art space investing in and working with some of the Middle East’s most talented emerging artists to provide a platform for their growth and development. Q0DE hosts and curates international exhibitions, act as an agency for up-and-coming artists and provide art-consultancy and market research focusing on contemporary art from the region.
Alaa Sharabi Alaa Sharabi (1988) is a Syrian artist now based in the UAE. He graduated with a Masters degree in Printmaking from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus in 2015. Sharabi’s ongoing experiments and the urge to see the artwork produced in large-scale, made him discover an intersection between two worlds; painting and print-making. The implementation of print-making techniques directly onto the canvas imbues direct truth in his work. The artist’s grades of black, white and in between are what have distinguished engraving and printing throughout the ages, transforming the world into a monochromatic palette that is more powerful, delicate and clear. The artist’s tendency to reduce human expressions to their purest forms is depicted through illogical combinations of shapes and forms reflect that reflect chaos. The overlapping of techniques does not only allow the artist to outweigh the possibilities of etching and painting, but are a demonstration of a state of confusion that he has about the future of humanity and civilisations to come.
Solo Shows 2015 Awaiting Light, Tajalliyat Art Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon Group Shows 2019 Material Resilience, Q0DE, Amman, Jordan 2016 Behind the Lines, The Penticton Gallery, Penticton, Canada 2018 eRacism, The Penticton Art Gallery, Penticton, Canada 2017 Kudüs, Kelimat Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey 2015 Syria Off Frame, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, Italy 2014 The L ast Supper, Samer Kozah Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
’’ عملــت علــى رســم أمهــات تحملــن بــذور المســتقبل ،حيــث يترقــب بقلــق هدفهــم الســعادة؛ واألمــل والوقــت كفيــان األجنــة الحيــاة ٍ ــر و ُح ِّفــر فــي الذاكــرة لرســم ابتســامات جديــدة رغــم ُك ِ ل مــا ُد ّم َ
عالء الشرابي
The Clan, 2018 Mixed media on canvas 150x150cm
Delivering the Future, 2018 Mixed media on canvas 150x150cm
Monarchy,, 2018 Mixed media on canvas 150x150cm
Fragments, 2018 Mixed media on canvas 150x150cm
Life's Force, 2018 Mixed media on canvas 150x300cm
Man-Made Destruction, 2018 Mixed media on canvas 150x150cm
Juhayda Bitar Solo Shows
Juhayda Bitar (1991) is a Syrian artist now based in the UAE. She holds a Masters degree in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus in 2017. Bitar’s spontaneous yet delicate brush strokes translate experiences and memories that she has gained from different times and spaces. She achieves this by exercising a reasonable amount of freedom in technique and execution that is backed up with extensive training in painting and careful consideration to colour composition. The artist’s inspiration stems from her nurturing family environment and the warmth of the neighbourhoods in her hometown, Damascus. Abstraction transforms the artist’s canvases to an emotional outlet, where her colourful palette decodes mixed feelings of nostalgia, hope and a deep-felt connection with nature. Vivid colour variations are mixed with dark earthy tones to refer to elements in nature that keep the artist grounded. Bitar’s lyricism conveys her philosophy of achieving selftranscendence through tapping into one’s subconscious and listening to our senses. Her work immerses viewers to locate their feelings and experiences in her canvases.
2019 Outlander, George Kamel Gallery, Damascus, Syria 2015 Hidden Masks, Art House, Damascus, Syria Group Shows 2019 Material Resilience, Q0DE, Amman, Jordan 2019 Personal Revolutions, Atassi Foundation, Dubai, UAE 2018 eRacism, The Penticton Art Gallery, Penticton, Canada 2017 Behind the Lines, The Penticton Gallery, Penticton, Canada 2017 Kudüs, Kelimat Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey 2017 Two Generations, Art House, Damascus, Syria 2016 Woman in War, Opera House, Damascus, Syria 2015 Syria Off Frame, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, Italy 2014 Mona Lisa, Samer Kozah Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon 2014 The Last Supper , Samer Kozah Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
’’ ألتقــط مشــاعري مــن كل مــا يحيــط بــي ،واألكثــر تأثيــر هو الســماء التي تشــعرني بالطمأنينــة ،حيــث تشــكل ســقف بيتــي الواســع؛ وبذلــك لســت غريبــة عــن أي أرض اذا مــا نســيت اللــون االزرق الخــاص بســماء دمشــق جهيدة البيطار
Contemplation, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 90x165cm
Focal Point, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 145x150cm
A Healing Wound, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 170x200cm
Rain Melodies, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 120x130cm
Remedy I, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 100x160cm
Remedy II, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 100x160cm
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Civilizations Arise, 2018 Acrylic on Canvas 85x195cm
In Pursuit of Happiness, 2018 Acrylic on Canvas 85x195cm
Material Resilience