Ayyam Gallery is presenting Immortal Moment II - Coping with the Shock, a solo exhibition featuring Faisal Samra’s recent body of work. The exhibition (Feb. 27 – Apr. 15) showcases the second offering from the Immortal Moment project, in which Samra creates artworks through the accumulation of moments, pushing the viewer to question the possibilities of a single fraction of time when many things happen. In the first edition of the project, Samra describes the technique as “capturing a moment and immortalising it in time”. However, this time, he defines the outcome as a “shock”. And the exhibition reveals the process of Coping with the Shock.
Samra incorporates disturbing imagery to create the shocking experience and it is perhaps a way of disturbing smug, complacent and hypocritical people. But it is far from the artist’s intention to bask in any shock value so wrought. He does not make art to provoke a reaction of disgust, shock, anger, fear, or similar negative emotions. Rather, his intention is therapeutical. It nudges the viewer to explore his own emotions, understand conflicts or feelings that cause distress, and use art to help find resolutions to those issues.
