sans titre, Paris
Aysha E Arar
For Art-o-rama 2023, Sans titre proposes a solo presentation by Palestinian artist Aysha E Arar comprising of a monumental installation covering the three walls of the booth and composed of painted canvases and fabrics, large-scale drawings, collages and prints.
Aysha E Arar uses painting, language, video and poetry and turns spaces into arenas where she expresses herself. She paints on paper, on canvas and on the wall, moving from narrative to abstract painting, and combines imaginary creatures based on Palestinian legends in contrasting colors such as red versus blue and yellow versus black. Arar covers her personal biography as a woman in a conservative society and touches on questions of tradition, freedom of choice and liberation. « I don’t know how to draw realistic paintings, I draw from the world of imagination and fantasy.This allows me to merge imagination with reality and all the contradictions that I live in content. »
For Art-o-rama 2023, Aysha E Arar imagined one of her biggest installations to date. It is inspired by a recent trip to Europe, where the artist discovered the Castle of the Counts of Flanders in Ghent, Belgium. Intrigued by its medieval architecture, she compared it to the traditionnal Arabian houses and their turrets. But what sparks her attention is the the history of the castle itself, the tales and myths associated with it.The anecdotes of princesses imprisoned for forbidden loves and spectacular escapes are indeed legion, the castle having been a prison for many centuries. The monument then appears to her as the symbol of her universe, divided between the search for freedom, and the aspiration to live in accordance with the precepts of a traditional lifestyle.
For this monumental installation, Aysha E Arar brings together many mediums that are dear to her. On found objects and fabrics but also on canvas, she creates colorful paintings, marked by a sense of urgency.These are paired with large paper cutouts and collages, which act almost like puppets in the scenary created by the artist.
