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Debating Modernism II focuses on figurative works of art in the Barjeel Art Collection produced between 1968 and 1987.
This second display starts with an ink and pencil drawing Erotic Composition (1967-70), by Lebanese artist Huguette Caland which is a study for the abstract, sensual paintings of the body that she created later on in her career.
In The Three Palestinian Boys (1970) by Marwan Kassab Bachi, the unique perspective shows only two of the three boys in full in the painting, suggesting the third has met a tragic fate.
Also on show are silkscreens by influential artist and writer Kamal Boullata, which depict Islamic calligraphy as colourful patterns. The texts written on the silkscreens are statements such as La Ana Illa Ana (There is No ‘I’ but ‘I’) (1983), a play on the Islamic saying ‘There is No God but God’ which challenges the notion that Arabic script is always Islamic when it is visually represented.
Whitechapel Gallery
77-82 Whitechapel High Street London e1 7qx
