Lebanon and the Split of Life: Bearing Witness through the Art of Nabil Kanso

The book explores the life and art of Lebanese-American neo-expressionist Nabil Kanso, focusing on his longest-running exhibition, the Journey of Art for Peace. It traces the historical trajectory of his 10 × 28 mural-scale painting, Lebanon, from its production during the Lebanese Civil War to its short-lived exhibition history with the Split of Life series. It emphasizes the artist as an activist and offers distinctly spatial readings of his painterly practice, highlighting the act of bearing witness as permeating the entirety of his oeuvre. The book is the first of its kind and draws extensively on primary source material, including personal notes, diaries, sketchbooks, correspondences, paintings, watercolors, photographs, recorded interviews, and more. It explores the artists oeuvre as an attempt to bear witness and offer testimony to the crimes against humanity committed throughout his lifetime, pairing close readings of his art and personal practice with historical and contemporary context to animate the relevance of his vast artistic archive.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 68 pages
Publication date: 14 May 2024
Publisher: Anthem Press

This comprehensive scholarly biography delves into the life and artistic journey of Lebanese-American neo-expressionist Nabil Kanso (1940-2019). It explores pivotal moments throughout the artist's transnational career, with a particular focus on his longest-running and internationally toured exhibition, the Journey of Art for Peace (1985-1993). More specifically, the book traces the historical trajectory of Kanso's monumental 10 × 28 mural-scale painting, Lebanon, from its inception amidst the tumultuous circumstances of the Lebanese Civil War in 1983 to its brief exhibition history with the Split of Life series in the years that followed.

The book serves as a valuable framework for understanding the artist as an activist, and it strives to offer distinct spatial readings of his painterly practice. Central to this exploration is the notion of witnessing, which permeates the entirety of Kanso's oeuvre. The book concludes with a contemporary recontextualization of Lebanon in the country's current social, political, and cultural climate, emphasizing the artist's work as essential to the theorization of larger traditions of political and protest art.

The first of its kind and the product of a research fellowship that granted the author exclusive access to the artist's unpublished archive, this book establishes a foundational basis for scholarship on the art of Nabil Kanso. It draws extensively on primary source material, including personal notes, diaries, sketchbooks, correspondences, paintings, watercolors, photographs, recorded interviews, and more. To bring this material to life within the context of this publication, each chapter is preceded by short narrative anecdotes inspired by the artist's personal notes, further grounding the subsequent research and schol.

This comprehensive biography offers a deep and insightful exploration of the life and work of Nabil Kanso, shedding light on his significant contributions to the neo-expressionist art movement of the 1960s and beyond. It is a testament to the power of art to transcend boundaries and inspire social change.

Weight: 118g
Dimension: 150 x 229 x 7 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781839989636