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.
self-portrait I (2013) & II (2016)
Self-Portrait (2013). printed on Fine ArtBaryta. Available 100x100 cm, 50x50 cm & 30x30 cm
Self-Portrait (three years later) (2016). Printed on Fine Art Baryta. Available 50x50 cm & 30x30 cm
reve imaginaire (2012)
Series of 12. 50x50 cm & 30x30 cm. Printed on Fine art Baryta
shall we dance?
SEries of 4. Printed on Fine Art Baryta. Available in 40x60 cm & 50x70 cm
Accessible Art Fair 2016
Philip Shalam , photographer, represented by the gallery Espace 32, participates in the Accessible Art Fair which will take place in Brussels from September 22 to 25, 2016.
Having won several awards for his work, including the International Photography Awards, Philip will present a dozen photos for the occasion, including his iconic Prada Marfa, Rainy Day at Oxford Circus and Solaris
Philip Shalam , photographer, represented by the gallery Espace 32 which devoted its first exhibition to the artist, will participate in the Accessible Art Fair which will take place in Brussels from September 22 to 25, 2016.
Having won several awards for his work, including the International Photography Awards, Philip will present a dozen photos for the occasion, including:
Prada Marfa, 2007
Prada Marfa shows an art installation representing a minimalist Prada boutique on a long empty road in the middle of the Texan desert. This picture was presented at Philip’s exhibition in Milan and auctioned by the famous house Phillips de Pury
Rainy Day at Oxford Circus, 2015
Presented at the Saatchi Gallery, London, it was voted 'Urban Street Photography' s Best Cover Photo in 2015
Solaris, Warehouse Tour & Taxis in Brussels, 2016
Reflections reversed in a puddle
Event details:
Address: Jewish Museum of Belgium - Rue des Minimes, 21 Brussels 1000
Opening Hours:
• Thursday, September 22 - Private VIP Evening partners and sponsors 19: 00- 10:00 p.m.
• Friday, September 23 - Open to the public from 12: 00- 6:00 p.m.
• Saturday, September 24th - Open to the public from 10:00 to 22:00
• Sunday, September 25th - Open to the public from 10:00 to 19:00
Prada Marfa (2007)
London Rain at Oxford Circus (2015)
Solaris (2016)
V&A (2016)
Belgravia #1 (2016)
Belgravia #2 (2016)
Belgravia #3 (2016)
Belgravia #4 (2016)
Financial (2015)
Eternal Ephemera (2012)
Knightsbridge #1 (2016)
Knightsbridge #2 (2016)
Knightsbridge #3 (2016)
Life in Technicolour
Fish Eye by Philip Shalam
Philip's work "is a perfect mirror of the society in which we live, the idealized globalization versus a skimpy voyeurism; the world at hand or seen through a peephole. The internet, meant to connect us with each other, only exacerbates our loneliness and distance and in addition makes us all voyeurs."
The gallery's first exhibition will show the works of photographer Philip Shalam. With his latest series, 'Fish Eye', Philip offers the viewer another dimension, between globalization and voyeurism.
'Fish Eye' because all photos in the exhibition were taken with one of the artist’s favorite lenses, the fisheye. The special feature of this lens is to show a 360 ° image, thus opening a different dialogue with the viewer. The latter will at times feel like a master of the world, with an image he can rotate at will, while at others, like a voyeur, observing the world through a peephole.
For his first exhibition in Brussels, Philip takes us between business centers, where concrete and advanced architecture are king, and the parks and beaches, where nature is sometimes sovereign, sometimes tamed. He shows us 15 photos that reflect what characterizes him as a photographer, namely the clear and elegant lines, the geometric shapes, large deserted cities and reflections. "The use of fisheye invites you to discover your own vision of the photographed subject, to linger and find the angle that suits you" says the photographer.
To Alexandra David, gallery owner, Philip's work "is a perfect mirror of the society in which we live, the idealized globalization versus a skimpy voyeurism; the world at hand or seen through a peephole. The internet, meant to connect us with each other, only exacerbates our loneliness and distance and in addition makes us all voyeurs. The photos presented show all that, there is no longer one planet which we live on, but an infinite number, since we are each our own universe, living alongside each other. "
On view from September 8 to October 15, 2016, from Thursday to Saturday from 14h to 18h.
Espace 32, Rivoli Gallery, Rue Emile Claus 45, 1180 Brussels
Opening with the artist, September 8th, 2016 from 18:30 to 21h. (Press by appointment)
Regents' Verso (2015)
Green Sky (2014)
Surfer's Paradise (2016)
Retina (2014)
Peepholes (2016)
Guincho (2016)
Cocktail (2016)
The 3 Parks
Global Green (2015)
Regents' Recto (2015)
Robin's Hood (2016)
Monuments (2016)
Strictly Business (2016)
Flora (2016)
Gherkin (2016)
Walkie Talkie (2016)
“Fisheye Lens |fɪʃ.aɪ ˈlenz|
The fisheye lens is an ultra wide angle lens with a field of vision covering up to 180°, producing strong visual distortion.
The term was coined in 1906 by American Physicist and inventor Robert W. Wood based on how a fish would see an ultra wide hemispherical view from beneath the water.
Its first practical use was in the 1920s for use in meteorology to study cloud formation giving it the name “whole-sky lens”.
Mass-produced fisheye lenses for photography first appeared in the early 1960s.
Urban Dictionary: A camera lens that produces the sickest photos #fish #eye #lens #camera #photograph
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