Sculpting Our Being
Dear art seekers,
I have been sharing with my friends and family an interesting observation since my arrival to Jordan: people think I am a foreigner here! I thought coming to a neighboring Middle Eastern country would eliminate all foreign assumptions that people might have of me, but in some ways, I have never felt more foreign than I do here. a. When I enter taxis or a coffee shop, people directly start talking to me in English, even before I utter a word. Sometimes I start speaking in Arabic and people respond in English, then I continue in Arabic and they continue in English. They are probably assuming that I only know the basic Arabic words like marhaba (hello) and shukran (thank you). Is it my colorful and flowery masks that I wear? r? It has been both an entertaining yet frustrating experience. I have at times, defensively stated that I am Lebanese and speak Arabic for people to understand. Most taxi drivers recognize my Lebanese accent right away, however for the first time yesterday, I was assumed to be Syrian.
For that reason, I have been playing with a small social experiment where I change my settings on Uber and Careem (cab app) to see how taxi drivers perceive me. I replaced my Lebanese number with my Jordanian number. The outcome? Less taxi drivers conversed with me. I guess I am more interesting when I tangibly identify as Lebanese! Yet still, some thought I am foreign and kept speaking to me in English. My second experiment will be writing my name in Arabic and seeing where this goes.
Putting my experimentation on the side, it has recently come to my attention that a lot of the artists that I have been choosing are painters, so I will be switching my focus on a more diverse range of artists.
Today’s artist is Alfred Basbous (b.1924– 2006), a Lebanese modernist artist and sculptor from the village of Rachana in Northern Lebanon, a two minute drive from where I am from. He was a central figure in the development and advancement of Modernism in the Middle East during the latter part of the twentieth century. Basbous had his first exhibition in 1958 at the Alecco Saab Gallery in Beirut. By 1960, aided by a scholarship from the French government, he studied under the sculptor René Collmarini at L’Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Artes de Paris (fig.1).
His polished work takes the shape of abstract forms that depict the human body, giving off a sense of fluidity and spirituality. His works reflect experimentation with movement, material and shape. Despite the abstract simplicity, his sculptures exuberate the purity of human anatomy. The minimalism of his work is an insight into his philosophy and approach of life.
"The modernist artist believes that honesty towards life and nature make for the best art. He thinks that the role of the artist is a pioneering one. He is idealistic; he preaches, showing the right way with confidence because he has a clear vision of his values”.," says Fadi Basbous, his son, in an interview with Zayna Al-Saleh from The National.
“The art is the reflection of the thought, an image of the reality, and a tangible translation of the values, therefore it imposes the thought on the material. He eventually hoped the stone would sense its own spirit.”
Basbous’s work captures moments of static and motion. His depiction of the female body metamorphosizes - like a butterfly - from slim to round while carrying out various acts of sitting, dancing and standing (fig.2) & (fig.3).
From 1994 to 2004, he hosted the first Lebanese International Symposium of Sculpture at his hometown in Rachana, where sculptors from all over the world were invited to work and exhibit. The park is today a UNESCO site and still carries some of his works.
If you happen to be in London, there is an ongoing exhibition of Basbous’ work at Cromwell Place. If you are in Lebanon, you should visit the Rachana International Sculpture Park.
Check out Edgar Davidian’s monograph on Alfred Basbous and The Alfred Basbous Foundation for more about his work!
Yours truly,
Rebecca