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Hubert
Westermann, a
self-taught artist, was
born in Metz, France, in 1937.
The painting depicts a flat, featureless, barren landscape stretching
as far as the eye can see. The artist describes it as showing,
"the Camargue earth which cries and cracks beneath the
blows of the modem world." |
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Robert
Holcombe is
a self-taught artist born
in Kyabram, Victoria, Australia, in 1945.
The artist describes Cry in the Wilderness as a 'metaphorical
representation of the destruction of the Australian landscape',
and which shows the female form of Mother Earth being 'raped'
in a landscape. Two
white fractures indicate the permanence of the damage to the
natural environment, a process fuelled by business interests,
represented by the dollar sign.
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Sudjai
Chaiyapan was born in 1969,
and lives in Bangkok.
The artist comments: ‘Continually developing technology affects
humanity and nature.The relationship between humans and nature
is inseparable. When nature loses, it means the end of the world
for mankind. A putrid landscape of death and decay is made up
of undulating human forms. Humans are the only living elements,
but there is nothing for them to be alive for’.The
painting is symbolic of the impact of man on the world’s environment.
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A
gentle, lyrical depiction of figures in a landscape painted
in a deliberately 'naïve' style suggestive of traditional
folk art. |
Soffía
Saemundsdóttir was born
in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1965.
"You
might recognise the place but you are not sure exactly where
it is. The figures are travellers in every meaning of the word.
They have wings, so they can go wherever they like, in time,
in the present, the past. They wear some kind of national costumes
with buttons, though their nationality is not easily defined.
They travel around the world singing, or maybe humming; always
looking for something, maybe a peaceful world or a better place
to be’. |
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Rached
Bohsali was born in 1957
in Beirut, Lebanon.
This large trompe l’oeil watercolour shows a single rose in
a glinting silver vase. An imagined Ecology and Heritage page
of the Al Nahar newspaper, dated 1 January 2000, bears the
headline: "20% of Batroun’s Coast, A Onetime Haven, Overwhelmed
by Corporate Sharks".
The
artist comments: "Our landscape and economy has been
the victim of the logic of real estate and a chaotic economy,
a consequence of 17 years of civil war. The newspaper expressing
the past comes behind the blooming flower, a symbol of the
optimistic green future, planted in a neat shiny metal cylinder,
a symbol of cleanliness".
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Rita
Adaïmy was born in 1968
and lives in Kessrouan in the north of Lebanon.
The
artist comments: ‘I wanted to manifest in the image of the
body of a man, his contradictory physical and mental qualities:
strong and weak; tender and savage. The sphere is the hidden
mystery. It is everything we are looking for: what we neglect
to approach and are frightened to know.’
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Dima
Hajjar was born in 1968 and lives and works in Beirut,
Lebanon.
The painting is a wry comment on the superficiality of the
‘gadget’ society. A bride and bridegroom in traditional dress
are shown posing as if for a formal picture. The bridegroom
has a mobile phone around his neck, and a prominent gold watch.
Their colour stands out against the pinkish purple hue of
the picture. The bride, her veil trailing to the ground and
her innocence suggested by her lighter colour, delicately
holds a flower. The picture has a heavily worn texture, like
a peeling panel painting enclosed in a battered frame.
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This
work comprises 47 matchboxes each painted with a small portrait.
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Mary-Rose
Hendrikse was born in 1963 in Cape Town.
The
artist comments: ‘Faces have been my lifelong preoccupation
and the multi-portrait became a way of tackling the problematic
concept of nationhood. I see the piece as a map that holds
everything together without compromising the individuality
of each component. Working on a small scale was surprisingly
liberating. It enabled me to include many faces and it entices
the viewer into an intimate relationship with the images’.
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Chang
Jee Hui was born in Korea
in 1981 and lives in Seoul.
The
picture is a self-portrait, produced by drawing her reflection
in a mirror.
The artist comments: ‘In the year 2000, I will be an adult
and will have become a college art student. It has been my
dream since I was young to paint whatever I wish. In my picture,
I have represented the past in the background with a faded
picture of a special Korean folk tale, and the present with
myself, so expressing my affection for my country and the
future’.
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