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Terra (Un)firma
Samah Shihadi and Michael Halak Dual ExhibitionTerra (Un) firma was originally intended to be the solo exhibition of Samah Shihadi, scheduled to take place at Cromwell Place in London, October 2020. As with many events and expectations over the previous year we were forced to adapt as London moved into lockdown. As such the exhibition has evolved in unexpected ways, first with a digital showcase and now with a physical exhibition in Dubai which now encompasses a body of work by fellow Haifa-based hyperrealist, Michael Halak.
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Michael Halak
Halak’s art follows western traditions of realist, illusory painting, but diverges in content which conflates local and global realities. This combination opens up the opportunity for multiple readings of his work and urges the viewer to consider more closely the contents with which they are presented. For Terra (Un) Firma the seven selected paintings by Halak capture the faces, social scenes and landscapes which immediately surround him. In these works flora and herbs such as olives and thyme prevail as a symbol of Palestinian identity but also speak to the universal viewer.
The artist understands thyme as an emblem of origin and freedom, but as soon as it becomes confined to flowerpot, it loses its freedom; pulled up from its original soil to become a marginal decoration. His landscapes are charged with the central tension that shapes both his life and his work – the question of the connection between man and place, and related concerns regarding presence and absence, identification and disidentification, visibility and invisibility. His scenes bespeak a process of bifurcation that gives rise to two separate yet inseparable worlds. At first glance his paintings may appear as harmless depictions of rural landscapes or social settings such as the Haifa marketplace however, in a similar manner to Shihadi, his works are loaded with symbolism and multifaceted meanings. Works depicting the old streets of Jerusalem, for example, appear to relay routine daily life, however, upon closer inspection symbols of conflict and contradiction such as soldiers and flags rise to the fore.
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Michael Halak, Olives and Thyme, 2019$ 3,500.00View more details
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Michael Halak, The Bread Seller, 2020$ 22,000.00View more details
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Michael Halak, Life in Bubble, 2018$ 10,000.00View more details
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Michael Halak, Jerusalem, 2020$ 7,000.00View more details
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Samah Shihadi
The body of work produced by Shihadi for Terra Un(firma) is divided into two segments, The Living and The Land, which take the artist’s personal narratives and feminist outlook as a starting point from which to explore issues faced by women, across cultures, in the contemporary moment. The Living is a reflection upon the artist’s complex and conflicting internal (psychological) and external (social) worlds. As a dual marginal existing within a liminal space Shihadi navigates the clashes between individuality and responsibility that comprise contemporary womanhood in her society and extend towards women, globally, who face discrimination, marginalisation, identity crisis and other multi-faceted gendered issues.
The selected works for The Land turn towards the physical space and natural environment as a site ofconnection, displacement and contestation, which the artist conflates with notions of the home, family and collective identity. Each large-scale work selected for the exhibition has been painstakingly produced over several months. Shihadi’s work oscillates between classical-figurative realism, which dutifully captures and records that which surrounds her and fantastical surrealism that draws from the artist’s preoccupations with mysticism. Shihadi employs a dramatic approach to hyperrealism sketching using chiaroscuro to form a magical reality which blends both fiction and fantasy. Symbolism - religious, ritualistic, political, and cultural - is interwoven into much of Shihadi’s work, forming complex layers that the viewer must unpack in order to absorb deeper meanings.
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Samah Shihadi, Harvest, 2020$ 6,000.00View more details
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Samah Shihadi, Hiding , 2018$ 10,000.00View more details
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Samah Shihadi, Home, 2019$ 12,000.00View more details
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Samah Shihadi, Landscape, Olive Trees , 2018View more details
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Samah Shihadi, Terra Studies 1, 2020$ 850.00View more details
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Samah Shihadi, Terra Studies 10, 2020$ 850.00View more details
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Samah Shihadi, Terra Studies 12, 2020$ 850.00View more details
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Samah Shihadi, Terra Studies 13, 2020$ 850.00View more details
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Samah Shihadi, Terra Studies 15, 2020$ 850.00View more details
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Samah Shihadi, Terra Studies 16, 2020$ 850.00View more details
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Samah Shihadi, Terra Studies 18, 2020$ 850.00View more details
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Samah Shihadi, Terra Studies 2 , 2020$ 850.00View more details
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More Information on the Artists