Wandering the streets of Beirut, younger will be curious to notice the remnants of older times, times that were all but destroyed by the pervasive impact of the dark winds of change that plagued the city for the last couple of decades. The grotesque patchwork of urban landscapes, structures, towers and vestiges brings about unsettling feelings while being emotionally captivating at the same time. The fading patterns of what is left of our heritage, specifically noticeable in ornamental elements that distinguished our old houses and buildings, are fundamental to the representation of Beirut in these paintings. The traditional practices and crafts alluded to in several compositions also depict the manifest social contradictions and inconsistencies that agonize the city, as well as an unrelenting determination to annihilate the old. The circular format chosen for the illustration of some of those patterns is yet another attempt to intensify the “Urban Exploration” (“Urbex” or “Place Hacking”: exploration of man-made structures, usually ruins, occasionally involving trespassing onto private property) in this exhibition by shedding a peeping light on the forsaken. The unusual perspectives used ( low and high angle compositions) reflect the helplessness of those Urban Explorers who stand in awe of the cataclysms unfolding before them and making them tourists in their own country.
-Dyala Khodary
