During a recent artist residency in Italy, where she studied the local development of art, Zankoul discovered the marble quarries of Carrara through the surrealist images of Matteo Basile. In Basile’s Pietra Santa series, this stark background creates an otherworldly environment in which dystopian nightmares unfold.
As cold as white stone
On display at Ayyam Gallery in Beirut, “As Cold as a White Stone” explores what Lara Zankoul describes as “the coldness, resistance, and numbness of human relationships nowadays.”
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- 12 January 2017
- Beirut
Drawn to the ravaged setting of the quarries, Zankoul uses the white marble backdrop to construct sparse scenes in which withdrawn figures represent “the nature of human interactions in a world dominated by individualism, virtual life, and ego/selfishness.” Her characters are anonymous, their faces mostly hidden from view as they languish in isolation or stand frozen in a state of confusion.
Zankoul allows the setting to inform the mood of her characters. Sharp edges and lines that are man-made define the stone, a feature that articulates the alienation of a plugged-in society: a constructed (virtual) environment stripped of direct interaction and devoid of humanity.
until 4 February 2017
Lara Zankoul. As Cold as White Stone
Ayyam Gallery Beirut
Zeitoune Street, Beirut, Lebanon