More (much more) about Rayan Yasmineh, and a little exhibition in Paris

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In May, I went to the Louvre Lens to see an exhibition called Par-delà les Mille et Une Nuits. Histoires des orientalismes. I was interested in the subject-matter, but in the event was disappointed by the show, which is why I didn't make a whole post about it. As with the V&A's Epic Iran, perhaps, the organisers had bitten off more than could easily be chewed in a single event. Par-delà les Mille et Une Nuits of course displayed numerous exciting artefacts, including some truly magnificent Kashan carpets from the 16th century. But as it could only skim the surface of each iteration of orientalism (or orientalisms, plural, as the curators would have it), came over rather as Orientalism for Dummies, supposing such a book should ever be published, or, at any rate, to seem less unkind, orientalism for beginners. Numerous school parties were indeed there.

I was drawn to Lens (two hours north of Paris by car) in particular by a new painting, commissioned by the Louvre for this event (and no doubt still wet when hung there at the very last minute: it does not appear in the catalogue) by my friend Rayan Yasmineh. I've mentioned Rayan several times before on this blog, in:

Any new work by Rayan is, as far as I'm concerned, an event. This is the painting on display in Lens:


Rayan is uncommonly erudite, as well as being a phenomenally gifted painter. I was fascinated to learn more about his sources and references, his methods, and the layers of meaning in five of his works, explained in this detailed recent interview (in French) on YouTube, so I thought I'd post a link here.


While I'm here, I'll post some photos from an exhibition that has little (though not nothing) to do with Rayan's work, but that opened ten days after his interview went online.

Ici e(s)t ailleurs was curated by Dani Issler, who runs the Au Passage space in the passage Sainte Anne, in Paris. It brought together works by:
  • Paria Ahmadi
  • Kevin Bray
  • David Caille
  • Amine Habki
  • Margaret Haines
  • Hoda Kashiha
  • Rahma Khazam
  • Katja Novitskova
  • Melika Shafahi
  • Mamali Shafahi
  • MarieVic
I lent some of these, so I was at the opening and took all the pictures posted here. It was nicely curated, using the space well. I've already mentioned most of the artists whose works I lent on this blog - if interested, just use the blog's search function to find them. Listing all the posts they appear in, with links, would take up too much space.

Here's a selection of my photos:










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