Katalogtext / London 2023 / Über die Arbeiten:
Dr Larissa Kikols comments: “El Lahib’s work oscillates between figuration and abstraction. Using lights and colours in a more targeted and subjective way, moods, figures, and sceneries are arranged as if in a dream. Often depicted by El Lahib is the same woman with long hair, captured almost in an exact same pose – slightly crooked, slightly bent forward, arms mostly hanging down.”
“It is often wrongly assumed that the night and its darkness swallows much of a place. In fact, the opposite is true of the night – it can expose much larger distances, including those of a star. It is only through a star that distances and dimensions can be perceived in space. The night therefore doesn’t diminish or limit things, it instead magnifies moments and renders them more intense.” says El Lahib.
“In El Lahib’s nights, his figures are thrown back onto themselves. They feel, think, and hold their own with no initial sense of direction. The task of not losing yourself, but being completely at one with yourself, further intensifies the moment. There are also encounters, namely between the figures in these paintings and the observer. Some seek our gaze whilst others don’t. They stand in the way with their bodies, they challenge us or invite us, they draw us into the painting, or rather, into the night.” Dr Larissa Kikol.
More Infos: https://saatchiyates.com/exhibitions/omar-el-lahib#
Larissa Kikol 