From the Daily Star, October 27, 2003

"Regard sur Florence".

Some artists are the spitting images of their art, while others offer a complete contrast with it. Nabil Ghandour belongs to the latter category, with a certain shyness and uncontrasted complexion that in no way prepares us to the power and vividness of the colours he works with. The very first piece that is offered to the visitor's eyes, "Regard sur Florence", seems to make a statement for the rest of the exhibit: it is a revisited portrait of Michelangelo's sculpture of David, but whereas the original piece stands in Florence in a delicate grey among the browns of the surrounding buildings, this one is a bold, lusty red over a no less saturated blue background. Ghandour comments: "I lived a long time outside, in France then California, so I have a different vision of light, much more vivid than the tendency here which is of dull colours and browns."

This vividness is strongly present in all the works exhibited, which can be grouped into several categories – figures, symbolism, still life – but, surprising for such a classical subject matter, it is his landscapes that make up the most striking part of his work. "I seek realism," he explains, "but not hyperrealism. It's a mixture of realism and impressionism: there is always a brushstroke." Actually, Ghandour doesn't seem concerned with rendering matter so much as the reaction of light with matter. Colour therefore becomes the main preoccupation of the compositions, and the artist's UCLA training in Color Theory and Light Refraction Rules becomes manifest in his mastery of effects that should normally not be expressable with pigments, only with light. One example is the treatment of the rolling waves in "Après la tempête", that captures perfectly the luminous transparency of the sea when hit by sunlight after a storm. Another is the intense sunset reds making up the mountains of a Mount Sannine landscape. In addition, parts of the paintings look glazed, due to the use of a glossy medium.

Glossy paint is rarely used, as it reflects light and makes it very hard to look at a painting. Ghandour turns this to his advantage, not only because gloss makes colours fully vibrant, but also because its interaction with light means the picture can only be fully appreciated in presence: movement in space makes it change. There is no one "way it's supposed to look" to be pinpointed: it remains elusive and invites careful perusal under different angles, which in turn increases awareness of the different textures in play. Perhaps unconsciously, the artist has reproduced a natural phenomenon whereas colourless surfaces such as feathers or butterfly wings look vividly coloured when hit by light, but in changing ways that do not allow one to decide what their real hue is. By using glossy elements on otherwise matte compositions, he achieves an intriguing interplay of opacity and (seeming) transparency that draws one into the painting in attempts to comprehend how a flat surface can look so deep.

This same paradox is present in a different way, for instance in "Mineral sculpture" representing the Pigeon Grotto, the latter being painted very volumetrically but on a sea backdrop that is decidedly flat, practically bare of any gradation or even brush stroke. It could look odd, but the overall impressionistic quality makes it work. This freedom from having to remain within a single register is confirmed by Ghandour's characteristic, symbolic series placed under the sign of his love for his country. "See how patriotic I am?" he jokes while pointing at the many instances of the cedar, taken straight from the flag and declined in endless variations. A repeated homage to Lebanon through the symbolic use of the national tree overlaps with evocations of the painful phenomenon that is emigration. "I am personally very touched by this, having a son abroad who doesn't want to return."
And we find his wish for the country, expressed with humour, in the painting titled "Entente nationale", where two bodies can be seen embracing beneath the flag: "If everybody saw things this way we would no longer have problems..."

Nabil Ghandour is exhibited at Galerie Rochane, Verdun Plaza, from October 21 till November 4. Tel: 01-792238.

Article by Joumana Medlej