Encoded Histories: Qais Al-Sindy and Doris Bittar
Mesa College, San Diego Opening Reception Thursday, October 16, 5-7 pm., Art Gallery D101
Artist Lecture following reception at 7 pm, G101 Show Runs through November 6, 2014
Article by Cathy Breslaw
Encoded Histories is a two person exhibition examining the notion of cultural and
personal identity as it is seen through the eyes of two artists from the middle
east who immigrated with their families to the United States. Qais Al-Sindy who came to the U.S. as a
consequence of the Iraq War, uses paintings, sculpture, installation and video to
capture a range of emotions and memory and to document the journey of leaving
one culture behind and learning to embrace a new one. “IOM Luggage” is an
installation of the actual two suitcases, commonly called ‘IOM bags’ , that
Al-Sindy used to fill with his belongings when he left Iraq – each person was
allowed only two pieces of luggage of a specific shape and size. Another
installation called “White Undershirt”, is a horizontal line of flagpoles
across a wall - each hanging a mens’ white undershirt , formerly displayed
outside Iraqi homes as a sign that residents would not attack American military
as troops moved into Baghdad. Another
installation “Mamdooh”, depicts a series of four paintings of Al-Sindy’s friend
who died as a result of a car bomb whose ashes were used in the paintings. There
is also a series of large and medium sized acrylic paintings on canvas,
expressionistic in style with strong, bold color. A floor piece, “Foot Hold” is
a vinyl interactive work with digital images of black and white footprints of
varying sizes, inviting visitors to locate their ‘footprint”. Many of Doris Bittar’s works explore
multiculturalism through the iconic image of the American flag, which she began
using after 9-11. While Jasper John used
the American flag in a straightforward but distinctive way, Bittar integrates decorative
imagery of middle eastern patterns and designs, and layers of latticed structures
loosely based on a grid pattern woven within and in front of the many ‘flag’ images, suggesting
a melding of cultural influences. Bittar’s sculptural wall installation(inkjet
image on aluminum and laminated wood) “To Be Free” is a combination of the word
‘freedom’ created with Arabic lettering, and forming the shape of a stylized
horse interconnected with an appropriated drawing by Eugene Delacroix of a lion
eating a horse – symbolizing issues during the Arab Spring. Another wall displays “Encoded Histories”, a
large series of small pieces of black scratchboard, each depicting a tiny
portion of the patterns used in Bittar’s flag paintings and collages. The work of Qais Al-Sindy and Doris Bittar investigates
the historical, social, political, and cultural challenges experienced by
having a ‘foot’ in two cultures with sometimes turbulent, adversarial and complex
histories and relationships.
