Ayyam Gallery Dubai (DIFC) is pleased to announce Distorted Reality, a solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Faisal Samra.
Distorted Reality will present works from the artist’s photographic series of the same title. The photographs on display are documentation of a series of performances by the artist, whose identity is concealed by intricate costumes and head coverings, as well as other objects. In these works, Samra is shown struggling to break free; capturing his movement, the camera provides a visual documentation of the sequences of his actions, which are improvised and executed against a predetermined backdrop. The resulting digital prints are reminiscent of early twentieth-century experiments with moving images, in which each frame shows sequential movement, yet within the context of today’s mass media dominated visual culture, the series articulates a rebellion against the burden of representation.
The violence of Samra’s gestures is blurred when digitally captured, resembling a state of transfiguration. This series describes the insidious nature of technology and the burden of representation that has emerged with the proliferation of visual media. As we are bombarded by images, the artist argues, our identities absorb the assault.
