I Fall on the Weeds and Stones
(„Song of Myself“, Walt Whitman)
Sara Richani
Modern Animals Gallery is pleased to present the solo 'I Fall on the Weeds and Stones' by the Lebanese artist Sarah Richani.
Her works are notable for their stark chromatic contrasts combined with subtle distinctions.They can just as easily be read as nonrepresentational abstractions as basic representations of nature; in essence, they are a concentrated form of emotion and rememberance. It is not an image of nature that Richani aims to capture, but the feeling of it. Underlying her paintings there is always a reference to a specific landscape; in Richani‘s case that landscape of her birthplace Lebanon. Her large abstractions painted with with layered, short brush movements leave a mesmerizing impression in the mind’s eye, like watching a cosmic event. They do not lend themselves to literary descriptions; probably the best visual art would not. They are formal without being a formal exercise: she commands the formality. The picture is a visual celebration to pleasure the eye, as say, music stimulates the soul. They do not encourage one to seek a rationalization of purpose or intent: form and content are beautifully united.