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artist's statement ::
about the artist |
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Stripes and Stars: From Zaragosa to Shiraz (left)
oil on 12 10"x10" canvases
33" x 44"
2002
Stripes and Stars: You Have Mail
oil on 9 10"x10" canvases
33" x 33"
2002 |
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Artist's Statement
The Stripes & Stars series was triggered by the
tragic events surrounding 9-11. The paintings are based on
the interaction between symbolic, patterned and
non-figurative references that investigate culture,
nationalism and identity. Islamic matrix, floral or
calligraphic patterns layer over the waving American flag.
Now three years later I find myself noting that I have
mingled the most profusely and elaborately patterned flag
in the world with the most profusely and elaborately
patterned culture in the world. However, the continuity
between these two cultures extends further than the glib
visual pun just offered. Both cultures share a profound
respect for ethno-diversity and a confidence that dynamic
synergy results from an embrace of diversity.
Following the fateful day of September 11, 2001 the
American and the Arabic cultures jarringly merged within
me. My feelings toward both conflicted and coincided. I
felt a sense of loyalty, protection and anger toward both
cultures as their symbols and patterns layered in my mind
seamlessly. These paintings frame questions about what has
changed and what has yet to be expressed. They evoke an
investigative curiosity about the witnessing of shifting
cultural perspectives and experiences. They describe the
frozen moment that Americans felt on September 11 and for
Arab Americans the persistent frozen reality because of
the continuing attacks on Arab/Islamic cultures.
Stripes and Stars: From Zaragosa to Shiraz builds
bridges between Arab and American iconography. It embraces
the entire historic region of the Middle East borrowing
patterns from Andalusia, Spain and Jerusalem to Persia and
Turkey. Specifically, the patterns are in a pseudo
geographic arrangement with the archway from Zaragosa,
Spain in the far left corner, the central pattern from
Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock and going east to the floral
tile work from Shiraz, Iran, in the lower right corner. In
unifying placement, with the flag lusciously painted as a
backdrop, the diverse Arab/Middle Eastern culture
converses with the American one in an aesthetic,
contemplative and intellectual interplay.
Stars and Stripes: You Have Mail has a different
mood than Stars and Stripes: Zaragosa to Shiraz
even though it brings similar elements together. The flag
is dark and pained. The large calligraphic hawk with the
envelope in its beak imposes itself on the flag. The hawk
politely but sternly demands to be noticed. The elements
imply that American culture needs to listen more carefully
to those whose lives are affected and have been affected
by American foreign practices.
The paintings signify an as of yet unresolved turning
point that challenges Arab Americans and Americans in
general. This series seeks to build bridges between our
diverse communities and at the same time to draw out the
misunderstood and uneasy relationships that persist.
For more on my work, please visit
www.DorisBittar.com |
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About the Artist
Doris Bittar was born in Baghdad, Iraq, of
Lebanese/Palestinian parentage and her early childhood was
spent in the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon. Her memories of
Lebanon are rich with pattern, from Oriental rugs to her
mothers' embroidery. Her family immigrated to New York
where eventually she studied Fine Arts. Her experiences
coincided as well as clashed with the portrayal of the
"exotic Orient" and the various images of Arabs, Jews and
Europeans. She plays out these themes in her paintings,
drawings and installations.
Upon graduating with a Masters of Fine Arts from the
University of California, San Diego in 1993, Bittar had a
solo exhibit at the Alternative Museum in New York. Since
then she has had numerous solo exhibitions at the David
Zapf Gallery and at various university and college
galleries in California and other states, most notably in
New York and Denmark. She is a lecturer at the University
of California, San Diego since 1996 and at San Diego State
University since 2000. She has received numerous grants
and Fellowships most notably the California Arts Council
Artist's Fellowship for 1998-99 and a fellowship at the
Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program
in New York, 1995-96. Her work has been reviewed
nationally and internationally in such journals as Art
in America, The Los Angeles Times, the San
Diego Union-Tribune, Art and Antiques as well
as in the Beirut and London based journal, Alhayat.
Her images have been published and discussed in a
scholarly book by Sherifa Zuhur called Images of
Enchantment. Bittar's paintings are in many private
and public collections, most notably the California Center
for the Arts in Escondido, California, the Museum of
Contemporary Art, San Diego, the San Diego Museum of Art
and the Russell Sage Foundation in New York City. Other
activities and endeavors include facilitating
Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue groups, being the Education
Chair of the San Diego Chapter of the American Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee and writing reviews and
essays for cultural magazines such as the Los Angeles
based Al Jadid and Alternet.Com.
For more on Doris Bittar's work, please visit
www.DorisBittar.com |
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