This group show of paintings and works on paper creates a dialogue between seven of the artists that Rose Issa Projects has represented or worked with.

The title is thematic and references the 12th-century Persian poet Farid ud-Din Attar’s epic work, The Conference of the Birds. In this poem, The Seven Valleys represent the mystical journey that birds and humans must undertake, passing through the Valley of Quest, Love, Knowledge, Unity, Contentment, Bewilderment, Detachment and Nothingness.

The participating artists are: Baal (mohamad said baalbaki), Graham Day, Fathi Hassan, Susan Hefuna, Lotte Reiniger, Walid Siti, Hossein Valamanesh.

Painter Mohamad-Said Baalbaki, known as Baal, was born in Lebanon in 1974 and now lives in Berlin. He first studied painting at the Institut des Beaux-Arts, Beirut (1998), followed by the Marwan Summer Academy at the Darat al Funun in Amman (2001). He then studied painting at the University of the Arts, Berlin (Universität der Künste Berlin), attending the masterclasses of Burkhard Held (2005). He graduated with a Masters of Arts from the Institute for Art in Context, University of the Arts, Berlin (2008).

Painter Graham Day was born in London in 1946, where he lives today. He received his BA from the Bath Academy of Art, Wiltshire and his HD FA from The Slade School of Fine Art, London. His work is in numerous public collections, including The British Museum and The Victoria and Albert Museum, London; The Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; World Bank, Washington DC; and The National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.

Fathi Hassan was born was born in Cairo in 1957 to Sudanese and Egyptian parents. He won a grant to study set design at the Naples Art School in Italy. Since graduating in 1984, he has lived in Le Marche, Italy. In his drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations, Hassan experiments with the written and spoken word, exploring the theme of ancient languages erased by colonial domination. With invented, Kufic-inspired scripts, he plays with the symbols, textures and calligraphy of his Nubian heritage to explore the space between graphic symbolism and literal meaning in vibrant colours and collage.

Susan Hefuna was born in Germany in 1962 and lives and works in Egypt, Germany and New York City. Hefuna has exhibited extensively internationally. Recent solo shows include "Susan Hefuna-Vantages", MAD Museum, New York, (2012-13); "Susan Hefuna", Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago (2012); "I Love Egypt-a temporary learning Camp“ at Speakers’ Corner, London (2011), Comissioned by Serpentine Gallery, London and Townhouse Gallery, Cairo; Edgware Road@Cairo 2010/1431, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo (2010); "Ana: of Dreams, Patience and Realisation", Rose Issa Projects, London (2010); Galerie Grita Insam, Vienna; “Wien 1431/2010”, Intervention at Belvedere, Vienna; Gallery Paul Kasmin, New York; MUMOK, Vienna; and the Freud Museum, Vienna.

Among the great figures in animated film, Lotte Reiniger stands alone. No one else has taken a specific animation technique and made it so utterly her own. To date she has no rivals, and for all practical purposes the history of silhouette animation begins and ends with Reiniger. Taking the ancient art of shadow-plays, as perfected above all in China and Indonesia, she adapted it superbly for the cinema.

Walid Siti was born in Duhok, Kurdistan-Iraq, in 1954, and now lives in London. He graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad in 1976, and from 1977-1982 studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia, for a BA and MA in printmaking. He moved to London in 1984 and has since focused on painting. He has exhibited extensively in the UK and internationally, in Slovenia, Poland, Russia, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates.

Conceptual artist Hossein Valamanesh was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1949, where he graduated from the School of Fine Art in 1970. In 1973 he emigrated to Australia and the following year travelled to Central Australia as Art Adviser with Aboriginal children. In 1977 he received his MA at the South Australian School of Art in Adelaide, South Australia, where he has lived and worked ever since. Valamanesh has exhibited extensively in Australia and abroad.

Rose Issa Projects
82 Great Portland Street
London W1W 7NW United Kingdom
Ph. +44 (0)20 76027700
info@roseissa.com
www.roseissa.com

Opening hours
Tuesday - Friday from 12pm to 6pm
Saturday by appointment