Lines and forms

Source Credit:  Content and images from Wall Street International Magazine by .  Read the original article - https://www.meer.com/en/82974-lines-and-forms

Leila Heller Gallery is delighted to announce the upcoming solo exhibition by Sumayyah
Samaha, titled Lines and forms, opening on 18th September 2024.

‘Lines and Forms’ showcases a dynamic range of works that are rooted in spontaneity and the intuitive
interplay between forms and lines. Each piece in the series begins with the artist laying down forms on a
blank canvas, allowing one form to naturally lead to another, creating a visual conversation. These forms,
each with its own narrative, are connected by lines that serve as guiding threads, helping the viewer
navigate the complex stories that unfold across the canvas.

The exhibition unveils Samaha’s exploration of form, line, and color in a series that began in 2014 and
continues to evolve with each new creation.

The artist’s choice of medium is deliberate and purposeful, driven by the desired effect for each piece.
Watercolors are employed for their transparency and lightness, while acrylics are chosen for their flatness
and the ease with which they can be layered. As the artist’s practice has developed, the canvases have
grown larger, incorporating diptychs and triptychs that tell increasingly intricate and interconnected
stories.

Samaha is celebrated for her profound engagement with color and meticulous attention to detail,
continually pushing the boundaries of her artistic practice. Lines and forms is not just an exhibition but
a tribute to the essence of painting itself, reflecting the artist’s unwavering belief that the act of painting
is central to her creative journey. This exhibition invites viewers to immerse themselves in the evolving
narrative of Samaha’s work, where each piece deepens the dialogue between form, color, and
expression.

Sumayyah Samaha is a Lebanese painter and mixed media artist who has lived and exhibited work in
New York since the early 1980’s. In addition to numerous solo exhibitions at 22 Wooster Gallery, Wilmer
Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba House, Denise Bibro Fine Art, and Skoto Gallery, Samaha also has an
extensive group exhibition history at venues throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.
Highlights include American abstraction: a new decade at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art,
Loretto, PA; New York chronicles at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts, Qatar
VCUQ Gallery, Doha, Qatar (2010); Art in embassies, US Embassy, Kuwait City, Kuwait (2008-09);
In/visible: contemporary art by Arab American Artists—the opening exhibition of the Arab American
National Museum and Cultural Center in Dearborn, Michigan (2005); and New York collections 2002 at
the Albright Knox Museum Gallery, Buffalo, NY (2002).

Samaha’s work can be found in public collections that include the Arab American National Museum and
Cultural Center in Dearborn, Michigan; Centrum Sztuki in Warsaw, Poland; Kenkeleba House in New
York, NY; Pfizer Pharmaceutical in New York, NY; and Bank Audi in Beirut, Lebanon.

Source Credit:  Content and images from Wall Street International Magazine by .  Read the original article - https://www.meer.com/en/82974-lines-and-forms