Bernard Khoury · Prisoner of War

Beirut art center is proud to organize prisoner of war, a major solo exhibition of the work of Lebanese artist Bernard Khoury.

prisoner of war gathers a body of works that systematically aestheticize the war. the exhibited work appropriates the most iconographic, or widely known, artworks from renowned contemporary Lebanese artists in fabulated visual constructions. the project aims to question and challenge this new generation’s unyielding contextual practices in tackling issues of war, identity and memory, and attempts to further highlight an inability to operate or exist outside these aesthetic parameters. artists are seemingly condemned to remain classified – within the western laboratory conducted by curators and institutions – as Arab, middle eastern or regional artists. the prisoner of war becomes a prisoner of this fabricated context.