Artist Lise Allam’s latest exhibition, Doll, opens at the Gezirah Art Center in Zamalek on 4th October 2010
“I have always been fascinated by dolls; it has been a childhood passion with its mysteries and secrets. It’s an unusual topic and has encouraged an unusual approach.”
Danish born artist, Lise Allam, will show her latest collection of oil canvases and ink drawings at her new exhibition, Doll, to be held at the Gezirah Art Centre in Zamalek. The exhibition opens on 4th October 2010 at 7.00 pm and will run through to 18th October 2010.
“Doll” explores the notion of shared human experience by addressing modern society’s relationship with the ‘human doll.’ The exhibition will feature more than 52 oil paintings of varied sizes (ranging from 150x150 cm to 30x20 cm), 9 drawings and 24 additional pieces in different media, all being shown for the very first time.
As an artist, Lise Allam treats painting as a medium for story-telling and, with ‘Doll’, she takes the relationship of a child with its doll as her starting point:
“This exhibition has come about as a result of extensive research and work. Central to my thoughts was the dichotomy at the heart of society’s attitude to dolls: in their very earliest years young girls are encouraged to love and treasure dolls; but as they grow older, they are then taught to discard these same dolls; to throw away, as worthless, something that was once so precious and central to their world. In this way, dolls are a manifestation of that process by which we are gradually ‘socialized’ towards adulthood – a process that, in the end, separates us from our deepest, innermost selves.”
The dolls in Lise Allam’s paintings are not the pristine, comforting objects of fairy tales or children’s nurseries. In her work, dolls are dislocated from their traditional idyllic settings and portrayed as discarded, eerie and broken objects, mutilated by time and neglect. Even in those pictures where pretty dolls are held lovingly by their young owners, there are dark overtones of impending loss and degradation: these cherished objects will soon be discarded on the growing piles of refuse and debris that characterize our modern society.
Lise Allam adds: “Dolls are also a universal symbol not confined to any single country or culture. As such, they seemed uniquely suited to this exploration of the tragedy inherent in the human condition.”
The exhibition represents a departure from the artist’s earlier work that, in the past, focused on popular myths and legends as a prism through which to tell her stories. Lise Allam’s preferred media is oil but she also works extensively in inks, crayons and pastels.
About the Artist
Lise Allam is Danish artist, living and working in Egypt for more than 30 years. Originally an award winning textile designer, Lise Allam made the transition into painting more than a decade ago. Since then, she has enjoyed considerable success with a series of well-received exhibitions including exhibitions at the Center of Art in Zamalek in 2000 and 2003, her participation in the Cairo International Biennale in 2001 and most recently, an exhibition in Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, in 2009. She has also held several exhibitions in her home country, Denmark.
Lise Allam holds a Bachelors degree from the Manchester School of Art and Design in the United Kingdom. She also studied English Literature at Odense University in Denmark. In addition, she has attended several art courses in art at several well-known London based institutions including the Central St. Martin’s School, Richmond School of Art and the Slade School of Art.
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“Doll” will be opening at The Gezirah Centre for Art in Zamalek from 4th October at 7.00pm.
The exhibition will run through to 18th October. It will be open daily from 10.00 to 14.00 and from 17.00 to 21.00 daily, except Fridays.
For further information on Lise Allam please contact: sherinenehad@gmail.com