AGENDA

Scenes of Uprising in "The Perfect Ecstasy" by Akl Awit

Does the eruption of colors and forms align with the precision of a dice roll, the dexterity of a tense hand, the spontaneity of an unconscious brush, or the rebellious Sufi rhythm in chaos? Chaouki Chamoun's solo exhibition at Mark Hachem Gallery, running from February 22 to March 9, 2024, features 42 acrylic-on-paper pieces and a mural (20m × 60cm).

This exhibition captivates the observer, engaging all senses and prompting interpretations that unfold in a dance of imagination. It initiates a dialogue, echoing the freedom expressed by those who took to the streets, yearning for a time and place that led Lebanon toward creation, love, emancipation, and freedom. These colors and forms flourish, defying predictability and commonality, reaching the pinnacle of formal absurdity. Yet, their excessive surrealism and abstraction are tethered to technical construction, transforming them into a form of magic realism.

On these painted surfaces, I discern crowds, noble human sentiments, untamed dreams, and uninhibited desires. Bodies touch, fraternize, and harmonize, creating an orchestral moment felt through all senses. The visual state allows the recipient to draw parallels between the painting's surface and a flight in the Supreme Cosmos. This optical fragmentation, a Sufi intoxication of colors, forms, lines, and rhythms, generates a harmonious texture, marked by vital and positive contrasts.

This seduction, deceptive and spontaneous, demands skills and unconscious control, making Chamoun's "risks" commendable. The exhibition is a visual celebration challenging fatal reality, culminating in the dance of all dances, where form and color ascend to the pinnacle of expression and perfect ecstasy. This ecstasy, free from reality's restrictions, aims to immortalize the act of uprising in art.