Exhibitions

Tabari Artspace is delighted to announce Strange Fruit a solo exhibition of works by acclaimed female,Lebanese painter, Tagreed Darghouth.Concerned with the socio-political issues prevalent in her native Lebanon and beyond, Darghouth takes aresearch-driven approach to her works, primarily in acrylic on canvas, that tackle such topics as cosmeticsurgery, domestic workers, life and death, war, destruction, identity, and displacement. The artist drawsinspiration from literature, philosophy, and the everyday realities of the Middle East as well as EuropeanMasters like Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh to produce paintings that are not only uncomfortable,confronting, and challenging in their subject matter but also technically brilliant.Strange Fruit will be the first ever solo exhibition of works by Darghouth in Dubai. The series on display sees ajuxtaposition between pastoral landscapes populated with Palestine’s ubiquitous olive trees and imagesdepicting the destruction and violence resulting from the occupation. Allegedly, approximately 800,000 olivetrees in occupied Palestine have been uprooted since 1967. Darghouth’s paintings, that refer to this destructionof the Palestinian olive groves, are imbued with the sentiments of Van Gogh on the significance of the olive tree as a ‘symbol for human life and its cycle’. Van Gogh believed that human interaction with nature, particularly during the olive harvesting season, formed a connection to the Divine. Darghouth also takes inspiration from these closing words by poet Mahmoud Darwish in The Second Olive Tree:But one of her grandsonsWho witnessed the execution threw a stoneAt a soldier, and was martyred with her.After the victorious soldiersHad gone on their way, we buried him there in that deepPit-the grandmother cradle. And that’s why we wereSure, that he would become, in a little while an olive.“This exhibition is another attempt to throw a stone.” -Tagreed DarghouthOn the power of art as social commentary Tagreed Darghouth says:“I think painting’s visual nature makes it an extremely powerful medium and mode of communication. A painting can cause much impact – all it requires is a mere glance from the observer.In my opinion it’s an artist’s duty to use this mighty language to shed light on matters that concern him or her and their surroundings.On the exhibition Tabari Artspace founder Maliha Tabari Says:“It seemed more than fitting that we dedicate March, which is the busiest month in Dubai’s art calendar and also Women’s Month to a powerful female force in the Middle Eastern art scene such as Tagreed Darghouth.Aside from her talent as a painter which is obvious, Darghouth deals with subject matter that many artists shy away from, yet her work provides an important insight into the social issues of the now.”

The selected works aim to probe the socially constructed reality of feminine beauty and its relation to the male gaze in contemporary, neoliberal society. Working with acrylic on canvas the artist continues her unabashed social commentary, reflecting upon what she encounters on the streets of Beirut and beyond in the cybersphere where international mass media and social media platforms continue to shape and reinforce limiting and dominant visions of gender. Darghouth, who regularly connects far-flung influences from literature, philosophy and music to her personal experiences in the modern world now turns to Greek mythology as her point of departure. Pandora was the fabled first woman to be constructed in ancient Greek society and unleashed with unrivalled physical beauty and immense sexual allure.

The artist, probes the fabricated nature and superficiality of Pandora, a woman over whom Aphrodite ‘spilled grace’ and whose destiny was to become “an evil men will love to embrace”. Conflating the classical with the contemporary throughout this body of work; Pandora, Darghouth reasons, is a myth but so too is the Barbie doll. Barbie's plastic physique has become a modern icon associated with pre-packaged western gender expectations and superficiality. The selected works see Dargouth’s paintbrush activate and amplify the constructed nature of human fictions and the fetishised status of femininity. Skulls, which have featured regularly in the artist's output since 2010, are included here refer back to her preoccupation with the notion of ‘Memento mori’ and feel all the more poignant now given the backdrop and context of this exhibition. Dargouth also interrogates the frail and fair frame of the Barbie doll, the unquestioned and iconised beauty of Venus and Aphrodite, glossed lips, the human torso and mannequin dummies which exist to be draped. Through prominent, layered brushstrokes and swift flicks of the wrist the artist engages in her own form of seduction as she pushes the viewer to consider her subjects anew.

Strange Fruit is a solo exhibition of works by acclaimed female, Lebanese painter, Tagreed Darghouth.

Concerned with the socio-political issues prevalent in her native Lebanon and beyond, Darghouth takes a research-driven approach to her works, primarily in acrylic on canvas, that tackle such topics as cosmetic surgery, domestic workers, life and death, war, destruction, identity, and displacement. The artist draws inspiration from literature, philosophy, and the everyday realities of the Middle East as well as European Masters like Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh to produce paintings that are not only uncomfortable, confronting, and challenging in their subject matter but also technically brilliant.

Strange Fruit will be the first ever solo exhibition of works by Darghouth in Dubai. The series on display sees a juxtaposition between pastoral landscapes populated with Palestine's ubiquitous olive trees and images depicting the destruction and violence resulting from the occupation. Allegedly, approximately 800,000 olive trees in occupied Palestine have been uprooted since 1967. Darghouth's paintings, that refer to this destruction

of the Palestinian olive groves, are imbued with the sentiments of Van Gogh on the significance of the olive tree as a 'symbol for human life and its cycle'. Van Gogh believed that human interaction with nature, particularly during the olive harvesting season, formed a connection to the Divine. Darghouth also takes inspiration from these closing words by poet Mahmoud Darwish in The Second Olive Tree:

Lebanese painter Tagreed Darghouth.Concerned with the socio-political issues in her native Lebanon and beyond, Darghouth takes a research-driven approach to her works, primarily in acrylic on canvas, that tackle such topics as cosmetic surgery, domestic workers, life and death, war, destruction, identity, and displacement.

The artist draws inspiration from literature, philosophy, and the everyday realities of the Middle East as well as European masters like Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh to produce paintings that are not only uncomfortable, confronting, and challenging in their subject matter but also technically brilliant. Strange Fruit will be the first ever solo exhibition of works by Darghouth in Dubai. The series on display sees a juxtaposition between pastoral landscapes populated with Palestine’s ubiquitous olive trees and images depicting the destruction and violence resulting from the occupation. Allegedly, approximately 800,000 olive trees in occupied Palestine have been uprooted since 1967. Darghouth’s paintings, which refer to this destruction of the Palestinian olive groves, are imbued with the sentiments of Van Gogh on the significance of the olive tree as a ‘symbol for human life and its cycle’. Van Gogh believed that human interaction with nature, particularly during the olive harvesting season, formed a connection to the Divine. Darghouth also takes inspiration from these closing words by poet Mahmoud Darwish in The Second Olive Tree:But one of her grandsonsWho witnessed the execution threw a stoneAt a soldier, and was martyred with her.After the victorious soldiersHad gone on their way, we buried him there in that deepPit-the grandmother cradle. And that’s why we wereSure, that he would become, in a little while an olive.“This exhibition is another attempt to throw a stone.” -Tagreed DarghouthOn the power of art as social commentary Tagreed Darghouth says:“I think painting’s visual nature makes it an extremely powerful medium and mode of communication. A painting can cause much impact – all it requires is a mere glance from the observer.In my opinion it’s an artist’s duty to use this mighty language to shed light on matters that concern him or her and their surroundings.On the exhibition Tabari Artspace founder Maliha Tabari Says:“It seemed more than fitting that we dedicate March, which is the busiest month in Dubai’s art calendar and also Women’s Month to a powerful female force in the Middle Eastern art scene such as Tagreed Darghouth.Aside from her talent as a painter which is obvious, Darghouth deals with subject matter that many artists shy away from, yet her work provides an important insight into the social issues of the now.”

The selected works aim to probe the socially constructed reality of feminine beauty and its relation to the male gaze in contemporary, neoliberal society. Working with acrylic on canvas the artist continues her unabashed social commentary, reflecting upon what she encounters on the streets of Beirut and beyond in the cybersphere where international mass media and social media platforms continue to shape and reinforce limiting and dominant visions of gender. Darghouth, who regularly connects far-flung influences from literature, philosophy and music to her personal experiences in the modern world now turns to Greek mythology as her point of departure. Pandora was the fabled first woman to be constructed in ancient Greek society and unleashed with unrivalled physical beauty and immense sexual allure.

The artist, probes the fabricated nature and superficiality of Pandora, a woman over whom Aphrodite ‘spilled grace’ and whose destiny was to become “evil men will love to embrace”. Conflating the classical with the contemporary throughout this body of work, Pandora, Darghouth reasons, is a myth but so too is the Barbie doll. Barbie's plastic physique has become a modern icon associated with pre-packaged western gender expectations and superficiality. The selected works see Dargouth’s paintbrush activate and amplify the constructed nature of human fictions and the fetishised status of femininity. Skulls, which have featured regularly in the artist's output since 2010, are included here refer back to her preoccupation with the notion of ‘Memento mori’ and feel all the more poignant now given the backdrop and context of this exhibition. Dargouth also interrogates the frail and fair frame of the Barbie doll, the unquestioned and iconised beauty of Venus and Aphrodite, glossed lips, the human torso and mannequin dummies which exist to be draped. Through prominent, layered brushstrokes and swift flicks of the wrist the artist engages in her own form of seduction as she pushes the viewer to consider her subjects anew.

Strange Fruit is a solo exhibition of works by acclaimed female, Lebanese painter, Tagreed Darghouth.

Concerned with the socio-political issues prevalent in her native Lebanon and beyond, Darghouth takes a research-driven approach to her works, primarily in acrylic on canvas, that tackle such topics as cosmetic surgery, domestic workers, life and death, war, destruction, identity, and displacement. The artist draws inspiration from literature, philosophy, and the everyday realities of the Middle East as well as European Masters like Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh to produce paintings that are not only uncomfortable, confronting, and challenging in their subject matter but also technically brilliant.

Strange Fruit will be the first ever solo exhibition of works by Darghouth in Dubai. The series on display sees a juxtaposition between pastoral landscapes populated with Palestine's ubiquitous olive trees and images depicting the destruction and violence resulting from the occupation. Allegedly, approximately 800,000 olive trees in occupied Palestine have been uprooted since 1967. Darghouth's paintings that refer to this destruction

of the Palestinian olive groves are imbued with the sentiments of Van Gogh on the significance of the olive tree as a 'symbol for human life and its cycle'. Van Gogh believed that human interaction with nature, particularly during the olive harvesting, formed a connection to the Divine. Darghouth also takes inspiration from these closing words by poet Mahmoud Darwish in The Second Olive Tree: