From June 26 until August 5, Ayyam Gallery Damascus will proudly present two coinciding events: Metallica, the solo exhibition of artist Tammam Azzam and Colored Earth...Black Chainsaw (2010), a new installation by photographer/filmmaker Ammar Al Beik. These simultaneous events will demonstrate the breadth of young Syrian art by highlighting the cutting-edge experiments that are defining its movement. Remarkably, both artists will offer work that explores the push and pull of cityscapes, underscoring the juxtaposition of urban sprawls against natural elements and the hidden spaces that lie in between.
Moving from his previous body of work, Laundry Series, which included mixed media canvases evoking the tactile quality of ordinary objects that are weathered amidst the force of a metropolis, Azzam’s recent paintings fall under the title Metallica, a reference to the metallic quality of his new techniques and the blunt luster of industrial spaces. Seeming to emerge from a thick fog, or perhaps a dark cloud of smoke, his brooding portrayals of the city read like moments in a film noir, in which the subtlety of black and white imagery is drenched in an element of mystery and psychology. These monochromatic compositions, which are layered with the silhouettes of buildings, telephone poles, cranes and satellites, are executed in a manner that also hints at the influence of street art, where stencils are used to assemble quick, flat compositions on the side of edifices. Whereas Laundry Series, emphasized the materiality of his inanimate subjects as witnesses to the changes of an environment steeped in history, Azzam’s Metallica points to the void of a human presence, as manmade monuments overrun the poetics of a terrain. In many ways, this latest series continues the narrative of his former work, as he continues to observe the city with a matured approach. His forthcoming solo show at Ayyam Gallery includes paintings from both stages, allowing the viewer to appreciate these developments.
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Born in Damascus in 1980, Tammam Azzam is one of Syria's rising young talents. A graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts with a concentration in oil painting, he has exhibited with some of the country's leading art spaces, including Atassi gallery and the French Culture Centre. He has also been featured in such events as Scope Art Fair (Basel) and Art Miami.
