In this most recent body of work, Alaa Sharabi encourages us to step out of the parameters of our known world, to immerse ourselves in multitudinal others.

Through his strong yet unstable, infinitely layered and mutable cube-like forms, unorthodox materials and turning of geometry on its head, Sharabi gives us a dense vocabulary of tools to describe a push against.

In this significant foray into a more abstract representational modality, Sharabi leaves the comfort of figuration, paring his practice to its simplest form. And it is here, in this most essential and unfettered self, that the architecture of his work perhaps speaks most clearly. Catch me and I’m gone, these works repeat, the houses of our bodies, minds, countries, are also fleeting. These works ask to be navigated, then they refuse.

Distance and perspective, background and foreground, exist in Sharabi’s work to show the closeness, nearness and interconnectedness, of things. Energy confounds distance, brings us in. The perspective might begin at a fixed distance, but everything moves. 

Alaa Sharabi was born in Damascus, Syria in 1988 and now lives and works in Sharjah, UAE. His work explores connections between painting and printmaking, evoking aspects of the human condition through an exploration of line, layers and innovative technique. His exhibition at Saleh Barakat’s Agial Gallery in Beirut, Lebanon, is the first to show his geometric works, which employ a unique process of black ink and sugar applied directly onto canvas. His material innovations are mirrored in his approach to surface, form and line, and his works delicately balance rule and chaos, known and unknown. 

Sharabi holds an undergraduate and a masters degree in printmaking from Damascus University, Syria, where he was also employed as a printmaking assistant. Since 2018 he has been working at Sharjah Art Foundation and teaching printmaking in Sharjah Art Institute.