5 October - 20 October, 2023
ICD Brookfield Place and Tabari Artspace present a group exhibition featuring Talal Al Najjar, Ziad Al Najjar, and Miramar Al Nayyar, entitled Postmordial Soup.
Postmordial Soup invites visitors to experience an immersive realm in ICD Brookfield Place. Working through cross-dimensional mediums, from video to sound, Ziad, Talal and Miramar invite guests to enter an otherworldly space that feels simultaneously like a sanctuary of origin and an extraterrestrial terrain. Postmordial Soup responds to questions on the origins of life and the influences of the soup that shape the contemporary condition.
The collective of artists delve into the human experience while maintaining their distinctive approach. They explore themes of the collapsing of time, the interplay between the foreign and the familiar, the coalescence of past and future, and the intricate interconnections they discern between the digital, the physical, and the natural realms. The exhibited body of work is the result of a recent artist residency that took place under ICD Brookfield Place’s Art Program in collaboration with Tabari Artspace Gallery.
Talal Al Najjar's creations interlink and journey through seemingly disparate epochs. His explorations navigate realms of ancient history, the contemporary landscape, and potential futures. The selected works span paintings, sculptures, videos, soundscapes, CGI animations, holographic marvels, and other site-specific interventions.
Talal's work juxtaposes imagery from sources as diverse as artefacts of the Gulf and modern-day meme culture. His art renders the familiar unfamiliar, contemplating the disconnect between our ancestral heritage and our current immersion in technology.
Ziad Al Najjar's two-dimensional works achieve an ethereal yet familiar resonance through a play of light and colour. His creations navigate the intricate threads connecting the natural, the constructed, and the spiritual realms, leaving the audience pondering whether the virtue of these creations derives from a spiritual domain or is an embodiment of the sanctity of the human form - from the primordial cocoon of our bodies to the sanctuary of the mother's womb.
Miramar Al Nayyar bridges the chasm between Talal's exploration of time and material dimensions of existence and Ziad's ethereal and spiritually evocative expressions. Miramar's artistic journey finds its locus at the core of these two worlds. Her work transcends civilisation yet remains rooted and entwined with the very essence of Mother Earth. The exhibited pieces - works on canvas and sculptures - capture the interconnectedness that binds all life forms, symbolising the timeless dance of nature and the infinite prospects that human expression can manifest.
This latest work from Miramar stems from her recent exploration into the choreography of human motion, translated within the confines of a single canvas frame. Through layering translucent pigments, Miramar attempts to capture the weight and cadence of human movement. She instils a sense of depth and vitality into two-dimensional canvases. These creations seamlessly blend organic and abstract forms, resonating with the rhythmic harmony that underpins movement in the natural world.
Saba Sayfaiee, a visual designer from the United Arab Emirates will be designing the overall branding for the show. Her main interests lie in editorial design, typography, and branding. In her practice, Saba examines, researches, and explores different cultural, social, and behavioural topics utilizing various mediums. In 2021, she graduated with a B.S. in Visual Communication from the American University of Sharjah.
