The work of San Diego artist Doris Bittar
is steeped in history, both the artist’s own personal history
and the history of the Middle East in general.
Bittar was born in Baghdad, Iraq and lived in Beirut, Lebanon before
her family immigrated to the United States in the mid-1960s a few
years before Lebanon’s civil war. These experiences, as well
as contemporary events in the Middle East, provide inspiration for
works that are at once powerfully complex and intimately beautiful.
The Oceanside Museum of Art is honored to present the first retrospective
exhibition of Bittar’s work to audiences in Southern California.
Jusour wa Kusour: The Work of Doris Bittar, 1989-2007 features
a survey of paintings from three series, Lebanese Linen,Orientalism,
and People of the Book, as well as the premiere of two
installations from the photographic series Kul Shay
(All Things). The Arabic title of the exhibition Jusour wa Kusour,
translated as A Bridge and a Chasm, reinforces themes of
personal identity and political struggle that are explored in the
artist’s work. While the chasm of misunderstanding and fear
between the Middle East and the West appears to be widening each
day, this exhibition not only acknowledges the fracture but also
reminds us of the bridges between the cultures. Through the use
of personal narrative, images of the artist’s family, and
appropriated imagery, Bittar’s work leads us away from fear
and prejudice toward an
appreciation of the shared human experience and the prospect of
peace.
We are grateful to Amy Corton and Carl Eibl, Bob Gagnon and Inge
Johannsen for lending work from their collections to the exhibition
with assistance
from the David Zapf Gallery, and we appreciate the technical support
of Bryan Palmer, John Odam, and Edward Sweed. My heartfelt thanks
to Doris Bittar whose work inspires and enlightens.
Catherine Gleason
Curator
Folding
Linens Araby Courtesy of
the artist and David Zapf Gallery
Doris Bittar was born in Baghdad, Iraq of Lebanese parentage and
her early childhood was spent in the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon.
Her family immigrated to the United States where she studied fine
art earning a Master of Fine Arts from University of California,
San Diego. Bittar is a past recipient of a California Arts Council
Fellowship, the author of several cultural essays, and is a lecturer
at the University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University.
As an Arab in Western society, Bittar feels strongly connected to
the traditions of the Middle East – the nurturing and hospitality
that are deeply entrenched even in the face of political upheaval.
While teaching at the American University in Beirut during 2005
she visited a Palestinian refugee camp, and several cities in Iran
and Syria. Bittar found the Arabic phrase kul shay (all
things) to describe her feeling of the mix of Middle Eastern cultures
– their decorum, abundance and contradiction. The Arabic title
of the exhibition translates as “A Bridge and a Chasm”
which reinforces Bittar’s themes of personal identity and
political struggle.
Bittar combines images of Middle Eastern decoration with personal
narrative to express issues of immigration and history. Her visual
vocabulary is shaped by the design and calligraphy of Islamic manuscripts,
the cross-pollination between the European Realist painting tradition,
and the perception of the exotic Orient through fabrics of the Ottoman
Empire adopted by the French. In the series Semites, her life size
portraits of Jews and Arabs are veiled in text-laden sheer fabric
that creates shrouded barriers. Many of the images in the series
Lebanese Linen come from photographs taken by Bittar’s
grandfather that capture a close-knit family at the end of the 1960s
“golden” period on the verge of a civil war. The patterns
in these paintings reflect the ancient past, the colonial past and
the recent past tinged with the French decorative style embraced
by the Lebanese.
This solo exhibition presents work from 1989 to the present that
expresses Bittar’s reflections on the cultural landscape of
the Middle East and her family’s history in the region. It
features paintings from the series Lebanese Linen, People of
the Book, and The Wandering Ishmael, and installations
from the photographic series Kul Shay/All Things, completed
in 2005 during Bittar’s six month journey through Lebanon,
Syria, and Iran.
Jusour wa Kusour: The Work of Doris Bittar, 1989-2007 opened
Saturday, February 10th with a preview reception from 5:00 to 7:00
p.m.
The exhibition continues through April 1, 2007.
