JO Magazine | Into The Void: An Art Exhibition By Bader Mahasneh
April 18, 2010
A show at Zara Gallery presents a different side to up-and-coming Jordanian artist Bader Mahasneh—this time in black and white.
Words by John Lillywhite.
Words by John Lillywhite
BADER MAHASNEH’S NEW EXHIBITION at Zara Gallery marks a departure for the artist in two main ways. First off, nearly the entire exhibition is in grayscale. Mahasneh’s humans―if that’s what you can call them―inhabit a misty pallor that the artist refers to it as the “void,” somewhere where “there is nowhere to go.” It’s in strong contrast to his earlier ink pieces, which are full of color.
This sense of the nowhere, or a limbo-like nothing, is accentuated by what appears to be a newfound sense of space. Again unlike some of Mahasneh’s earlier pieces, nothing bursts out of the canvas―in fact many of the specimens seems trapped by it. In the artwork numbered “3,” a lonely girl bows her head, almost melting into the floor. In “2,” zombie-like creatures stand listlessly, their countless ranks swelling into the background. The girl, at least, retains some semblance of humanity, the latter group are like shades, humanoids without emotion.
“I can’t decide if these are human beings being constructed or deconstructed … taken apart,” Mahasneh said.
Deconstruction of the body is definitely a theme. Exhibits “5” and “7” feature images of a female and male body sitting down, their heads exploding in a splattered mess. Next to them, in “6,” a wash of black erodes the forms into transparency and nothingness.
“You must have been reading some interesting books or watching some peculiar movies,” this reviewer suggested to the artist, who shrugged.
“Not really. All of this comes from my head.”