FADI YAZIGI
Contemporary art from Syria Opening Reception Saturday, November 7th from 3 – 6 pm (the artist will be present) Exhibition dates November 5 – 28 YALLAY GALLERY 6 YIP FAT STREET 3rd FLOOR WONG CHUK HANG HONG KONG Enquiries +852 3575 9417 info@yallay.net yallaygallery.net |
Untitled
2014, clay, 25 x 25 cm |
Floating Figures
2010, acrylic on canvas, 195 x 138 cm |
Art is the culmination of uninhibited creative freedom to visually express the social and political situation of our times. My works are a nostalgic chronicle of relationships; the source of my stimulation is all that surrounds me and all those who have left an indelible mark on my life. – Fadi Yazigi
Yallay Gallery is pleased to announce the first solo presentation in Asia for leading Syrian contemporary artist Fadi Yazigi. The artist’s long-standing practice originates from his Damascus studio, where for over 25 years he has captured the spirit of the Syrian people in an environment besieged by decades of political conflict. Through painting and sculpture, Yazigi exposes a range of emotions, brought to life in gestural figuration.
In a new body of work composed entirely of square reliefs in fired clay, depictions of men, women, and animals—and at times composites of the three—contort within the perimeters of the sculpted surfaces. Evoking Mesopotamian terracotta plaques, Yazigi’s figures are often in states of companionship or isolation, and uncomfortably, sometimes smiling. The faces and figures emerge as if from the windows and doorways of the old Jewish Quarter where Yazigi works. It is this quotidian that drives the imagery, revealing the joy that can be brought through distraction, the awkwardness of uncertainty, and the emptiness of the unknown.
Yazigi’s paintings enlarge and multiply his narratives, challenge scale, and allow mythological creations to emerge life-sized. Floating Figures, 2010, remains in the human realm, yet the inhabitants hover and intertwine, not fully formed. The paint unfolds across the surface while spirit-like shapes overwhelm the space. What remains is both haunting and ethereal. A third group of recent works, rendered in bronze, allows Yazigi’s figures to fully enter three-dimensionality. Here, the artist’s denizens struggle within the material, entrapped, and sometimes submerged, in the unyielding medium.
Throughout the presentation, the captive environment of Yazigi’s world is laid-out explicitly, revealing a complexity of emotion that can be cast in one expression, yet outlasts natural modes of time. For while the gestures and visages of the figures express the lives of those who populate a contemporary Syrian metropolis, their forms emerge as those from ancient Sumerian sculpture. It is at this cross-millennial juncture that the artist answers an essential meta-physical query: for certainly what is there? and what is it like? are questions credibly answered in the content of Yazigi's work.
Fadi Yazigi was born in Latakia, Syria in 1966. He studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus, obtaining a BFA in Sculpture in 1988. Yazigi’s art is housed in numerous public and private collections throughout the Middle East, Europe and the United States. Solo exhibitions include City Hall (Thessaloniki, Greece 2015), Galerie Tanit (Beirut 2015), Darat Al Funun (Kuwait 2014), The Mosaic Rooms (London 2011), Ayyam Gallery (Damascus 2009) and Al Bareh Art Gallery (Bahrain 2006). Fadi Yazigi was the 2007 Delfina Foundation artist-in-residence Middle East representative (London); his lecture at The National Gallery, Poussin's Sacraments - Rites of Passage and Continuing Creativity, was delivered in the same year. He has participated in numerous international events and art fairs including Art Paris, Abu-Dhabi Art, Art Dubai, Art Palm Beach, Beirut Art Fair and the Sharjah Biennale.
ABOUT YALLAY GALLERY
Located in Hong Kong’s burgeoning arts district of Wong Chuk Hang, Yallay Gallery was founded in 2013 by Jean-Marc Decrop. The gallery exhibits the work of artists from emerging art scenes in China, Indonesia, South Asia, the Middle East and Pakistan. It is one of the first galleries in Asia to showcase art from the Arab, Iranian and Turkish contemporary art scenes. Decrop is among the earliest collectors and dealers of first generation Chinese contemporary artist. Having settled in Hong Kong in 1993, he has since curated numerous institutional shows and collaborated with artists to produce pioneering, monographic exhibitions. Yallay Gallery is a member of the HKAGA (Hong Kong Art Gallery Association) and the SICD (South Island Cultural District).
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Art is the culmination of uninhibited creative freedom to visually express the social and political situation of our times. My works are a nostalgic chronicle of relationships; the source of my stimulation is all that surrounds me and all those who have left an indelible mark on my life. – Fadi Yazigi
Yallay Gallery is pleased to announce the first solo presentation in Asia for leading Syrian contemporary artist Fadi Yazigi. The artist’s long-standing practice originates from his Damascus studio, where for over 25 years he has captured the spirit of the Syrian people in an environment besieged by decades of political conflict. Through painting and sculpture, Yazigi exposes a range of emotions, brought to life in gestural figuration.
In a new body of work composed entirely of square reliefs in fired clay, depictions of men, women, and animals—and at times composites of the three—contort within the perimeters of the sculpted surfaces. Evoking Mesopotamian terracotta plaques, Yazigi’s figures are often in states of companionship or isolation, and uncomfortably, sometimes smiling. The faces and figures emerge as if from the windows and doorways of the old Jewish Quarter where Yazigi works. It is this quotidian that drives the imagery, revealing the joy that can be brought through distraction, the awkwardness of uncertainty, and the emptiness of the unknown.
Yazigi’s paintings enlarge and multiply his narratives, challenge scale, and allow mythological creations to emerge life-sized. Floating Figures, 2010, remains in the human realm, yet the inhabitants hover and intertwine, not fully formed. The paint unfolds across the surface while spirit-like shapes overwhelm the space. What remains is both haunting and ethereal. A third group of recent works, rendered in bronze, allows Yazigi’s figures to fully enter three-dimensionality. Here, the artist’s denizens struggle within the material, entrapped, and sometimes submerged, in the unyielding medium.
Throughout the presentation, the captive environment of Yazigi’s world is laid-out explicitly, revealing a complexity of emotion that can be cast in one expression, yet outlasts natural modes of time. For while the gestures and visages of the figures express the lives of those who populate a contemporary Syrian metropolis, their forms emerge as those from ancient Sumerian sculpture. It is at this cross-millennial juncture that the artist answers an essential meta-physical query: for certainly what is there? and what is it like? are questions credibly answered in the content of Yazigi's work.
Fadi Yazigi was born in Latakia, Syria in 1966. He studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus, obtaining a BFA in Sculpture in 1988. Yazigi’s art is housed in numerous public and private collections throughout the Middle East, Europe and the United States. Solo exhibitions include City Hall (Thessaloniki, Greece 2015), Galerie Tanit (Beirut 2015), Darat Al Funun (Kuwait 2014), The Mosaic Rooms (London 2011), Ayyam Gallery (Damascus 2009) and Al Bareh Art Gallery (Bahrain 2006). Fadi Yazigi was the 2007 Delfina Foundation artist-in-residence Middle East representative (London); his lecture at The National Gallery, Poussin's Sacraments - Rites of Passage and Continuing Creativity, was delivered in the same year. He has participated in numerous international events and art fairs including Art Paris, Abu-Dhabi Art, Art Dubai, Art Palm Beach, Beirut Art Fair and the Sharjah Biennale.
ABOUT YALLAY GALLERY
Located in Hong Kong’s burgeoning arts district of Wong Chuk Hang, Yallay Gallery was founded in 2013 by Jean-Marc Decrop. The gallery exhibits the work of artists from emerging art scenes in China, Indonesia, South Asia, the Middle East and Pakistan. It is one of the first galleries in Asia to showcase art from the Arab, Iranian and Turkish contemporary art scenes. Decrop is among the earliest collectors and dealers of first generation Chinese contemporary artist. Having settled in Hong Kong in 1993, he has since curated numerous institutional shows and collaborated with artists to produce pioneering, monographic exhibitions. Yallay Gallery is a member of the HKAGA (Hong Kong Art Gallery Association) and the SICD (South Island Cultural District).
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