Alexandra David 5/28/17 Alexandra David 5/28/17

‘Architexture’ & ‘Slices of Brutalism’

Photo Image Gallery is happy and proud to present two new artists, Jo Stanness and Karim Alaoui, in a combined show that will start on Saturday June 3rd.

The exhibition, strongly centered on architecture versus nature, shows two artists’ struggles and attempts to create an improved version of their surroundings. On the one hand, Karim’s black and white trees and buildings subdued in a flustered and abstract light as if swept off the ground to a new reality. On the other, Jo’s cut out brutalist buildings, which are given a new lease, a new life and a new dimension by the carefully chosen colour patterns that emerge from its angles.

Photo Image Gallery is happy and proud to present two new artists, Jo Stanness and Karim Alaoui, in a combined show that will start on Saturday June 3rd. A vernissage will take place on June 3rd in presence of one of the artists, Karim. The exhibition will be ongoing until June 18th.

Karim's "Architexture" and "Trees" are two series of photographs from his studies on man's inner landscape. Strongly influenced by his works as a psychiatric nurse and a Shiatsu Yoseido practitioner, his art is heavily impacted by his day job. He uses photography as a medium in order to discover the world and develop new perceptions.

Jo's series, ‘Slices of Brutalism’ saw the light in 2015. They came from an idea she had had for an illustrated book. Drawn to the clean lines and geometry of brutalist and modernist architecture, she always found the background clutter frustrating. To Jo, the solution was simple: use scissors and paint to cut away the clutter and reveal the clean forms.

The exhibition, strongly centered on architecture versus nature, shows two artists’ struggles and attempts to create an improved version of their surroundings.

On the one hand, Karim’s black and white trees and buildings subdued in a flustered and abstract light as if swept off the ground to a new reality.

“The shapes and spaces emerge in a dreamlike mood. The rhythm of each structure pops up out of chaos, like a signature, an unintentional fingerprint. Aren’t we constantly seeking to check the reality of what is around us? Photography here is no longer the faithful witness but the indicator of something which highlights our senses and maybe reconnects us…”

On the other, Jo’s cut out brutalist buildings, which are given a new lease, a new life and a new dimension by the carefully chosen colour patterns that emerge from its angles.

“Architecture can slice through and divide up physical space; I am interested in using images of structures or elements of buildings as a catalyst for the division of pictorial space. In this work I follow one simple self-imposed rule: I only follow or extend lines and angles which already exist within the photographic image.”

Jo was born in Sunderland in the North East of England where she now teaches in a primary school. She finds inspiration in the numerous books she reads, in art, be it in galleries, books, or on Instagram, and by visiting new towns and cities with her camera in hand.

Karim was born in Brussels, Belgium, in 1970. Aside from his work as an artist photographer, he has been working as a psychiatric nurse in a day hospital for the last 30 years. As of 15 years ago he added Shiatsu Yosheido practitioner to his occupations.

'Architexture' by Karim Alaoui

'Slices of Brutalism' by Jo Stanness

Alexandra David 3/11/17 Alexandra David 3/11/17

Rêve Imaginaire

Sabyl présente trois de ses séries photos et une vidéo. Les séries ont été prises entre 2012 et 2016 et posent la question de l’adaptation de l’artiste à la réalité : la vie rêvée de l’artiste où les identités et les religions se démultiplient (Self-Portrait, 2013), des scènes de la vie nocturne à Tel Aviv et Beyrouth intégrées les unes aux autres (Shall We Dance?, 2015) mais aussi une vie où les personnages suffoquent (sont suffoqués) de (par) leurs rêves (Rêve Imaginaire, 2012).

Rêve Imaginaire, Sabyl’s new show opening at Photo Image Gallery, Brussels, on March 11th, 2017 is all about never giving up hope, however unlikely and unattainable a dream might seem. Through the title he chose for his show, Sabyl warns us from the start that he neither deals with reality nor comments the news. The artist oscillates in an almost schizophrenic way between a world he created himself and a tragic reality he transcribes faithfully. Rather than provoke the viewer, he wants the latter to ask questions, to wonder and ponder.

Sabyl, presents us three of his series of photographs and a video.
In the first series, Rêve Imaginaire, the artist shows us individual portraits of a family, seated on a chair, immobile, the background is blue and their heads are completely wrapped up in a keffieh. The pose and background are reminiscent of both ID pictures taken at professional photo booths or the now sadly famous association of terror organisations’ victims’ last pleas on camera.
The symbolism of the veil is also striking as it has been the subject of numerous controversies in the last few years, notably in France where the artist grew up.

With this series, the artists wants to make the viewer more aware of how suffocating one’s identity can be. In this case, he uses the keffieh which is usually a symbol of pride but is seen here as an instrument of oppression as well. The people look like they could be the victims of their dreams.

The next series Shall we Dance shows us a utopian world in the form of a spectacular photo montage by the artist who has superimposed photos of youngsters dancing in Tel Aviv on photos of their counterparts dancing in Beirut. The youngsters and the scenes are so alike that it is impossible to distinguish which is Tel Aviv and which is Beirut, yet for all their similarities neither can dance in the other’s country.
The distance between Tel Aviv and Beirut is slightly more than the distance between Brussels and Paris.

The third series shows two self-portraits of the artist taken three years apart. In the first photo, he multiplies identities and religions by tripling himself as a priest, an imam and a rabbi. All three are seen sitting happily and peacefully on a bench, showing the viewer another side of a missed reality. In the second photo, taken three years later, the photographer takes his idea a step further. With the years, the bodies mingle and the borders disappear and are unified in one same body shown wearing the symbols of the three religions, hands lifted up in a universal praying gesture.

The last piece shows us a video called The Arab Spring of my Grand-Mother, another dual reality, another shattered dream, another undying hope for the future, the idea of continuity exemplified by the never-ending sea, yet the ever changing line of the horizon, and continuity through generations.

Sabyl currently lives between Batroun, Lebanon and Paris where he grew up, with his mother born in Lebanon and his father born in Ghana. His atypical course, led him to follow Fashion Studies, before moving on to Law School, followed by theatre classes where his main interest lay in directing, rather than acting.

In 2011, he became Director of the Lebanese Film Festival in Beirut. Since 2015, he has switched his focus on photography and writing. He writes for various publications, both on and off-line such as Orient XXI, Agenda Culturel and Tamyras. His photos and photo-reportages have been published in l'Oeil de la Photographie, the Guardian, Art Paper as well as Fotografia Magazine.

He is currently preparing a photo book with the Lebanese publishing house Tamyras while finishing his first novel.