Omar El Lahib
Saatchi Yates
26th January – 15th March 2023
A new 12,000 sqft gallery space in the center of St James has been launched by Saatchi Yates, showcasing a collection of new paintings by Lebanese artist Omar El Lahib, currently based in Cologne.
Omar El Lahib’s new paintings in Saatchi Yates’ new space © Saatchi Yates
Featuring more than 18 large-scale paintings, El Lahib’s solo exhibition explores the world of the night, where mystery takes form and the unconscious can express itself freely.
Born in Sidon, Lebanon in 1986, El Lahib pursued his education in Fine Art at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf before relocating to Cologne with his family.
“El Lahib’s work oscillates between figuration and abstraction. Using lights and colours in a more targeted and subjective way, moods, figures, and sceneries are arranged as if in a dream. Often depicted by El Lahib is the same woman with long hair, captured almost in an exact same pose – slightly crooked, slightly bent forward, arms mostly hanging down.” Art historian Larissa Kikols describes El Lahib’s paintings in this way.
“It is often wrongly assumed that the night and its darkness swallows much of a place. In fact, the opposite is true of the night – it can expose much larger distances, including those of a star. It is only through a star that distances and dimensions can be perceived in space. The night therefore doesn’t diminish or limit things, it instead magnifies moments and renders them more intense.” says El Lahib.
“In El Lahib’s nights, his figures are thrown back onto themselves. They feel, think, and hold their own with no initial sense of direction. The task of not losing yourself, but being completely at one with yourself, further intensifies the moment. There are also encounters, namely between the figures in these paintings and the observer. Some seek our gaze whilst others don’t. They stand in the way with their bodies, they challenge us or invite us, they draw us into the painting, or rather, into the night.” Dr Larissa Kikol mentioned.
Speaking of the move to St James and the El Lahib Solo Show, Saatchi Yates Founders Phoebe Saatchi Yates and Arthur Yates said: “St James has always been our dream home, a brilliantly British destination for both the history and future of art in London. Our new gallery allows us to put on ambitious public shows for our artists and in our secret hallowed galleries, present some spectacular private sales. Omar’s paintings immediately hypnotised us with their mysterious and unsettling power. We were confident he was the perfect artist to launch our new initiative in St James. Intermingling Lebanese landscapes with Germanic intensity.”
The new gallery space on Bury Street will showcase more groundbreaking artists in the future, as well as featuring some secondary market works in its VIP area. In addition to cutting-edge art projects, Saatchi Yates will also host important historical works by post-war and contemporary leading artists.
Omar El Lahib, Highnoon, 2020-2022, Oil on canvas, 150 x 250 cm © the artist and Saatchi Yates
奧馬爾·拉赫布
倫敦薩奇耶茨畫廊
2023年1月26日至3月15日
薩奇耶茨 (Saatchi Yates) 在倫敦市中心St James區域開設了一個 12,000 平方英尺的新畫廊空間，展示了目前居住在科隆的黎巴嫩藝術家 Omar El Lahib 的新畫作。
El Lahib 的個展展出了超過18幅大型畫作，這些畫作探索了夜晚的世界，呈現出一種神祕的氛圍，讓潛意識得以自由表達。
藝術家於1986年出生於黎巴嫩西頓，在與家人搬到科隆之前，他曾在杜塞爾多夫藝術學院接受美術教育。
“他的作品在具象與抽象之間搖擺不定，以一種更具有針對性和主觀性的方式運用畫面中的燈光、色彩和情緒，人物和其所置身的風景被安排得如同夢境一般。經常被描繪的是同一個長發女性，她幾乎以完全相同的姿勢被畫面捕捉——微微傾斜、身體向前彎曲、手臂自然地垂在身體旁邊。” 藝術史學家拉麗薩·基科爾斯（Larissa Kikols）這樣描述拉赫布的畫作。
“人們通常誤認爲黑夜和黑暗吞噬了很多東西，實際上恰恰相反——黑夜能夠揭示更遠的距離，比如到星星的距離。（黑暗中）只有透過星星，人們才能感知空間中的距離和尺寸。因此，夜晚並不意味著削弱或限制事物；相反，它放大了一些瞬間，使它們變得更加強烈”，拉赫布如是說。
“在拉赫布畫裡的夜晚中，他筆下的人物往往被投射到他們自己身上。他們感受、思考並堅持自我，不知何為‘方向’。他們並不是迷失自我，而是與自己完全合一。進一步強化這一時刻的是畫中人物和觀察者之間的相遇。有些人物似乎尋求著我們的注視，而另一些則不，他們自得其樂。他們也許用身體擋住了我們的視線、試圖挑戰我們或是邀請著我們、吸引著我們進入畫中，走進黑夜裡”，拉麗薩·基科爾斯總結道。
談及畫廊遷址St James和拉赫布的個展，薩奇雅茨的創始人菲比·薩奇·雅茨（Phoebe Saatchi Yates）和亞瑟·雅茨（Arthur Yates）表示：“St James區一直以來是我們的夢想家園，它是一個把倫敦藝術史和未來結合在一起的終點站。新畫廊使我們能夠繼續為代理藝術家舉辦雄心勃勃的公共展覽，並同時在畫廊的秘密空間裡進行一些美妙的私人銷售活動。奧馬爾的畫作以其神秘和隱隱令人不安的力量迅速迷住了我們，我們相信他是為畫廊拉開帷幕的完美人選。他將黎巴嫩的景觀與德國的緊張感完美融合在一起。”
位於Bury Street的新畫廊空間在未來將展示更多具有突破性的藝術家，並同時在貴賓空間展示一些二級市場的作品。除了突破性的藝術項目外，薩奇雅茨還將舉辦以展示戰後及當代領先藝術家的重要歷史作品。
Omar El Lahib, Between Dimensions, 2021-2022, Oil on canvas, 200 x 200 cm © the artist and Saatchi Yates
Edited by 编辑 x Xinde Ren 任心得
