Abstract art as we know it in the West may be a bit too Eurocentric after all. Lebanese artist Edouard Souhaid speaks of the relations between abstract art and Islamic tradition. The dialogue unfolds in a new exhibition in Paris.
April 28th marks the opening date of the exhibition Conversation Abstraite (lett. Abstract conversation) in 8 rue Chapon, Paris, showcasing the works of abstract artists Elisabeth Delesalle and Edouard Souhaid. It is, as the title suggests, a conversation between two artists, but also between to different practices, styles, and ultimately two different worlds.
AN ABSTRACT CONVERSATION AT THE HEART OF PARIS
Delesalle is 70, from France, Souhaid is 32, from Lebanon. She has been doing abstract art for decades, he is an architect by training, whose interests are as diverse and complex as they come. Their biographies alone speak of their differences. Yet, in the language of abstract art they found a common ground. “The connection with Elizabeth was personal at first”, says Souhaid, “we have known each other for more than ten years, but it was only after a while that we started discussing our art, and then the exhibition came out of our conversations, somewhat spontaneously. With the years we started looking at each other’s work and then notice there was this link between what she was doing and I was trying to do”.
It is just fitting, then, that Conversation be the starting point of it all, and the pivot around which it all turns. The perspectives both of their works engage with are somewhat symmetrical too. The conversation then sometimes takes the shape of a confrontation. For instance, on the nature and genesis of abstract art itself.
ABSTRACT ART AND EUROCENTRISM
“We are looking at abstraction from the north and from the south. Because I believe that Europeans have a tendency to argue that abstraction comes from Europe and while it actually is very European, it can also relate to Islamic art”. This argument, that is becoming more and more popular in the art debate, is directly linked to religion, because, as Souhaid explains, “in Islam you can’t represent anything figuratively, so traditionally they use patterns. Islamic art is full of patterns, which are a key element of abstract art too – and in Islamic art they are used literally for abstracting reality, for showing something (in this case God, and religious themes) by painting something else”.
As it turns out then, our view on the development of abstract art may be a little too Eurocentric. “We think in the European tradition that Kandinsky invented abstract art”, but knowledge transforms and develops, and notions that were perceived as uncrackable become obsolete all the time. This seems to be happening in the field of abstract art too. For instance, in 2023, an exhibition at Tate Modern explored how Hilma Klint (contemporary to Kandinsky) was making abstract art both at the same time and before he was – putting his primacy up for discussion: “what is happening now is that there is this disruption going on, where abstract art is not only based in Kandinsky and the traditional way of seeing it, and it can be open to including a more oriental perspective too”.
And Lebanon has always been a particularly fertile environment for the development of the arts. Thanks in large part (but not only) to the coexistence of a variety of cultures and religions: “We have a big tradition of abstract artists in Lebanon, just like in the rest of the Arab world. What is particularly interesting about Lebanon is the multicultural aspect. It’s not just about Islamic art: Muslim artists influenced Christians and others too”. From the south and from the north, in Abstract Conversation, Souhaid and Delesalle work on the possible, or multiple, origins of the artform they share, only to meet each other at the heart of the matter.
WHAT IS REAL BUT INVISIBLE
But this is far from being the only contradiction Souhaid explores though his artworks: «I was always interested in all those things that are real but invisible, microorganisms, constellations, but also data for instance – they are invisible to the human eye, but they are also incredibly real». This interest traces back to the very beginning, to the moment that sparked his artistic inspiration: “people always ask me when I first knew I wanted to become an artist, I always found it a very difficult question, but when I thought about it I realised the first time was in a biology class, when they first made me look into a microscope. I still have this clear image in my head of the moment I was these creatures into the microscope. They were real creatures that I could draw, and I could study and understand, all without actually seeing them”. That feeling of wonder, clearly visible in the almost child-like spark in Souhaid’s eyes as he talks about it, never went away. Quite the opposite: he kept it alive and transformed it into his art and artistic research. “I still think these structures that are invisible to us are revealing of what we are. I believe abstract art is ultimately about looking at something from really close or really far”.
A FERTILE TENSION: CONTROL AND CHAOS
Souhaid’s art pieces do in fact look somewhat like microorganisms. With an over-saturated, almost psychedelic touch. Making them, takes tension. “The kind of tension”, explains Souhaid, “that develops between control and chaos”. Here, the conversation element with Delesalle comes up again: “her work is very much northern in a way where it talks about regularity, it is very scientific, almost mathematic. My work is much more chaotic, irregular”. This reflects on the very practical act of creating his works too: “I start with a canvas on the wall, so it’s like a normal painting, but then I put it on the floor to pour the liquid paint on it, and this creates the tension between something that is very controlled – when I draw on the vertical canvas – and something that has a spontaneity to it – in the very random act of pouring paint on the horizontal canvas – and then I repeat the action again and again, from wall to floor”. This mix, he says, may also have been influenced by his origins: “Beirut itself, just like most mediterranean cities, is a controlled chaos”. The colours he chooses owe their vitality to Lebanon too: the blue is that of the mediterranean sky, the warm and bright tones of the shapes carry the vitality of Beirut within them: “at the end of the day abstraction does have a universal aspect to it. Ultimately, we are talking about colours, forms, a very universal matter. Again, Elisabeth and I are north and south – where you come from also means looking at light differently, colours hit differently in different places, and the environment does influence the way you work”.
THE SYNTESIS, WHAT ABSTRACTION IS MADE OF
The conversation between Souhaid and Delesalle goes down to the point of discussing materials too. Besides being painters, they both also sculpt: “I work more with plasticine, or air-dry clay, whereas she works with traditional, proper ceramics and colours”. As far as this choice goes, “this conversation that is happening between us, between traditional and newer materials, is the same conversation that is coming up in the art world more and more”. Couldn’t be more timely. The space where the exhibition is taking place has a significance too. Locating in the Marais, next to the famous Centre Pompidou, physically places it at the heart of the discussion: “in a way, we wanted to be at the forefront». As much as the tension rises, between the two artists’ works, it also finds a graceful, natural synthesis: «we are very different but at the same time we do talk to each other, and we do understand each other’s works profoundly”.
BACK TO THE CANVAS: THE EVERLASTING RELEVANCE OF PAINTING
As for the canvases, Souhaid works are still in Lebanon, where his main gallery is, and with the exhibition coming up and no way to ship them to Europe due to the war he was left with no options: “I had to make them all again, which of course meant making something different”. Though he will also make some sculptures and textile pieces, painting remains the main focus. “People often ask me why I think painting is still relevant. Even though conceptual art took over, I believe paintings and sculptures have a way of talking to people that is still incredibly powerful and easy. There is something about the materials that make them incredibly versatile, artists have been using them in the most different ways, and I believe that this is because they allow you to express ideas in a way you would not necessarily be able to otherwise. At end of the day it’s still just paint, it’s still pigments and it’s still a binder, but they create so many possibilities”. For this exhibition, having to create new works turned into an opportunity: “for some of the pieces Elisabeth and I are also working on the exact same canvases – we talk to each other through the steps. So these will effectively be realised in conversation as well”.
DATA ON CAVAS: TECHNOLOGY BE IGNORED
Of course using canvases does not mean overlooking more contemporary means of communication. Quite the opposite. Digital technology is present in Souhaid’s works too. As a fundamental force in contemporary society, it must be part of the conversation. Artists, in his view, must interact and work with it – or they risk being cut out. In Souahid’s paintings, for instance, the screen is often present: “the finish has a plasticky kind of effect, that is very reflective. This choice is related to the screen, it recalls the screen’s reflection we are so used to”.
Data are also a major part of Souhaid’s artistic research: “with artificial intelligence we have a lot of words and concepts like complexity, liquidity and this idea of abundance that are coming up again. I started to notice that there was a link between the theory of abstract art and data analysts and AI. The same goes for the fact that, much like with digital tools, starting from a common infrastructure each artist then has their own system – structure and system are also themes coming up frequently when talking about AI. My work tries to deal with the reciprocal implications that exist between the two”.
WHAT IS AN IMAGE? IT TAKES AN ARTIST TO UNDERSTAND
When we talk about image generation or AI applied to art, “we are now at the point questioning what an image is – not even if the image is real or fake anymore but what is an image”, which is exactly why “artists and creatives in general need to make their voices heard in this debate, because what we are talking about is images. Who knows what image is better than an artist? Engineers or data analysts may not even be able to begin to understand the question”. Escaping the debate is dangerous: “we are talking about a technology that is going to revolutionise everything, and we need creatives not to be technophobic”. Understanding what questions must be asked at this time and investigating the issues that come up starting from an artistic way of thinking, may be essential for shaping our collective future.
Even tech companies are starting to understand this – and increasingly including artists in their boards: “we are shifting from what they call design thinking to art thinking – where the first means finding one creative solution for one problem thanks to a design approach, while the second means we have multiple problems that require multiple solutions, and that may even take you to more problems, and this requires an artistic approach, exactly in order to balance order and chaos”.
This is also where art becomes political – even and especially abstract art, “it is political”, in Souhaid’s view, “not in the sense of a political collective movement, but in the sense that is changes your way of looking at things, and I think this is the very essence of politics, because the way you look at things does change reality. Abstract art goes beyond that, it gives you new realities, ones that you are not supposed to see, or did not even realise were there before”.
LINK
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