Nadine Mustafa From the 10th of November 2022 to the 14th of November 2022, collectible design gallery Le LAB takes its collective art to the heart of the city of culture and dynamism, New York. Le LAB is a Cairo-based contemporary collective design gallery that deeply understands the history of the Egyptian and regional art scene and its aspirations for the future. Le LAB’s upcoming exhibition named ‘Awakenings’ will showcase at The Salon where different artists and designers highlight the rebirth of the art and design movement in Egypt and the Middle East through their art creations.
In collaboration with Zamalek Art Gallery and Gypsum, Le LAB will power the different regional interpretations in art form to the rest of the world. Co-curated by Russell Piccione, founder of Russel Piccione Design studio in New York, architectural designer, and interior decorator, Le LAB’s exhibition ‘Awakenings’ will vibrantly showcase the talent and versatility of all Middle Eastern artists and designers Khaled Zaki, Omar Chakil, Tessa & Tara Sakhi, Richard Yasmine, Mostafa Abdel-Moity, Basim Magdy, and Mohamed Fares. Visitors will witness an eccentric meld of ancient methods, materials, and techniques with modern ones to conceive pieces that are both timeless and futuristic. Each designer and artist’s art creations personally provoke a distinctive understanding of the artists’ journey of creating their pieces and allow room for both senses of individuality and solidarity with their experiences.
Khaled Zaki’s Naqaba Boat recalls the undulating lines of a prehistoric terracotta figure and the stylized boat designs of ancient Egypt’s later dynasties in a harmonic integration between minimal sculpture and applied design. Omar Chakil’s strong vivid lines and bold shapes take raw Egyptian marble onyx, known as Pharaonic alabaster, and imbue it with spiritual essence that reflects the artist’s mixed Egyptian, French, and Lebanese heritage. Similarly, Lebanese-Polish sisters Tessa and Tara Sakhi (TSAKHI studio) explore their knowledge of glassmaking that stretches from ancient Egypt and Lebanon to the glassmakers of Murano to create delicate and ethereal pieces that conjure the textures of excavated eroded artifacts. Richard Yasmine, on the other hand, displays a tongue-in-cheek playfulness with geometric forms that blur the lines between old and new and a silhouette that evokes the Egyptian imagery of the rising sun using synthetic fur in a modern interpretation of an ancient material. Two leading Egyptian artists of different generations bookend the design pieces in ‘Awakenings’ with artworks that reflect on the futuristic themes from different perspectives. Basim Magdy references a dystopian future based on the cultural tripes of our hyper-connect ted reality with dream-like images that question time itself and how we perceive ourselves and others within it. Mostafa Abdel Moity, who came of age in the 1960s, reimagines traditional elements of architecture and heritage at home in futuristic landscape where precisely balanced subtract geometric forms alternate with softer, almost human, lines. Finally, Mohamed Fares, one of Egypt’s most talented architects and interior designers, present a video installation that captures the many spontaneous moments and impressions that trigger the almost alchemical sequence of creation in the minds of artists and designers.
Driven by its founder’s, Rasheed Kamel’s cultural heritage, Le LAB aims to explore the way in which collective design is interpreted in our region today and to ignite a movement questioning the boundaries between art, design, and architecture. The conversation between the past, present, and the future of shared societal events is one that Le LAB is particularly interested in utilizing as a means to understanding our common humanity. Collaborating with some of the region’s greatest and most inspiring artists, designers, craftsmen, and architects promises to champion or even deconstruct pre-conceived notions and standards and evoking a fresh courageous perspective on contemporary and collective design.
