Hassan Zahreddine (LB)
Text written by GHA
The mezzoprints of Lebanese artist Hassan Zahreddine, who resides in Canada, portray dreamlike landscapes. The contrasting nighttime shadows emphasise the theatricality of the bright scenery where natural changes take place.
Zahreddine’s prints are a combination of stippling engraving and mezzoprint, allowing the natural elements to appear soft in the blur of nocturnal darkness.
The detailed thin lines counter the vast black areas, creating a difference in textures. Each of these landscapes features a bright area or subject, mystically illuminated by an undefined light source. Where the darkness ends, the light begins abruptly instead of being introduced slowly.
This dramatic contrast makes the scenery seem suspenseful and surreal, starring floating windows and curiously hovering clouds. The nighttime sky seems to either be oncoming or wavering, giving an indication of the passage of time. This sense of impermanence is countered by the serious stillness of clouds and tree alone with nature, the audience finds themselves on the threshold of tranquillity and anticipation in Zahreddine’s liminal landscapes. The prints capture a moment in the calm before the storm, almost as the natural would meet the otherworldly.
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landscape 1 cloud
