Overview
Originally on view at Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) between 12 March and 12 May 2016, and then travelling to Jeu de Paume, Paris (7 June–25 September 2016) and Haus Der Kunst (28 October 2016–12 February 2017), this major touring exhibition titled Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige: Two Suns in a Sunset opens at the final venue, IVAM (Institut Valencià d’Art Modern), Valencia, Spain on 6 April until 27 August 2017.
Grounded in the context of Beirut and events close to their personal lives, the exhibition reflects the artists' ongoing interrogation of imagery affected by war and violence, representation and history. Featuring a wide selection of works on paper, photographs, sculpture, sound and video installations created from the 1990s till the present day, Two Suns in a Sunset establishes thematic, conceptual and formal bridges between the artists’ various investigations and experiments.
The duo’s recent artistic preoccupation with notions of shifting bodies, borders and belonging are evident in their two new video works: Remembering the Light, commissioned by SAF, and ISMYRNA (in conversation with Etel Adnan), commissioned by SAF and Jeu de Paume. Also on view in the exhibition are works commissioned or produced for Sharjah Biennials: President’s Album (2011), Cedar IV: A Reconstitution (2011) and Faces (2009).
Functioning as an exhibition guide as well as a monograph of Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige’s work, the eponymously titled publication for Two Suns in a Sunset is written in the three languages of the artists (Arabic, French and English). Published by SAF, Haus der Kunst, Jeu de Paume, IVAM and Koenig Books, the volume includes contributions by Philippe Azoury, Omar Berrada, Okwui Enwezor, Marta Gili, Nat Muller and Hoor Al Qasimi.
This exhibition has been coproduced by the Jeu de Paume, Paris, the Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, the Haus der Kunst, Munich and the Institut Valencia d'Art Modern.
Curated by Marta Gili (Jeu de Paume), Hoor Al-Qasimi (Sharjah Art Foundation), Anna Schneider (Haus der Kunst Munich) and Jose Miguel G. Cortes (Institut Valenica d'Art Modern).
Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige: Two Suns in a Sunset, 2017. Various works. Valencia, IVAM 2017.
Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, The President’s Album, Part II of The Lebanese Rocket Society, 2011. Two Suns in a Sunset, IVAM, Valencia, 2017.
Related
Two Suns in a Sunset
Grounded in the context of Beirut and events that are close to their personal lives, the works of Lebanese artists and filmmakers Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige reflect the artists' ongoing interrogation of imagery, representation and history.