15 November 2021 - 30 January 2022

IDENTITY

by Charles Khoury

There is an essence to rely on when a people or a country is faced with ongoing economic, political and societal trials. That essence is a form of identity which becomes craved by the estranged members of the sickened state. In this collective of pieces by Charles Khoury, the artist presents his quest to an euphoric world based on the aesthetic of an identity he has amassed throughout his life as a painter from Beirut.

Not a place, not a time, and not a moment, but a concept of a language made up of complex compositions of colors in conversations with lines, creating familiar members of the animal kingdom and, occasionally, the bust of a human. This is the visually provoking state of mind and feelings where Khoury invites his spectators to enter. It is not random, but it is not governed by any rules, it is simply the translation of the artist’s being after years of developed work in colors, lines, and shapes.

Khoury has thrived using several surfaces, starting with wood and moving on to jute. His works on jute is a testament to the artist’s technical skill in applying layers of paint on a rarely tamed surface which evokes the texture of tapestries.

Today, Khoury is working canvas, which makes the selection of pieces on Jute increasingly special.

Amidst the complimentary hues of striking geometry, there lives the story of an artist pushing to reach the wholly depiction of his most authentic aesthetic. An aesthetic based on an identity that is his own, but that is relatable to any who have lived the wonders of his city, Beirut.

-Mira T. El Khalil