Artists Sculpture With Burnt Quran; Previously Approved Artwork Banned From City Hall Venue in ArtPrize® Competition for Being Offensive

Atlanta, GA, September 14, 2015 (Newswire.com) - ​​​​​​​​​​Nabil Mousa introduces Paradise Built on the Bones of the Slaughtered – a monumental sculpture for the ArtPrize®​ Seven competition – based on the Syrian-American experience; welded towers display religious texts burned to ashes.

After previous approval by the City Hall venue in the competition, Mousa was informed that they would no longer allow him to display his sculpture at the City Hall Venue.  With 12 days before the ArtPrize Competition starts, Mousa is left to attempt to find another venue who will host his piece with less than two weeks before the competition starts on September 23. 

"As a Syrian-American, he has close experience with the high tension and suspicion created by 9/11 and the ongoing unrest between the Western World and the Middle East," 874 Salamatina Project director Oksana Salamatina explained. "Being an Arab-American, he also understands both American and Arab cultures, and can readily attest that we are more alike than dissimilar."

Oksana Salamatina, Gallery Director, Salamatina Gallery

ArtPrize officials stated that out of the 162 public and private ArtPrize venues, roughly 10 public venues require approval by the city before it is decided which works will be displayed there.  It is unclear to Nabil Mousa  how the approval did not occur when the piece was accepted through the ArtPrize portal and a venue aggreement with City Hall was completed and signed.   Mousa states that "It appears someone missed a step or political pressure has caused the rejection of the Sculpture at this late date."  Mousa goes on to say, "When you talk religion or you talk politics a lot of people, including me, have a wall that goes up instantly; But Art does something that’s amazing. It breaks through those walls. Those walls aren’t there. And people are often willing to stop and listen to what’s being said.”  "I only hope my work finds another venue and the public has the opportunity to see the work, hear the message and judge for themselves."

Not unlike other artists before him, Mousa has both supporters and detractors.  In Grand Rapids, the reactions are reminiscent of Enwina Sandys's, "Christa".  "In 1975, Sandys caused near apoplexy in some circles with her sculpture of a female Christ. Installed in the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine during Holy Week in 1984."

Syrian-born, Atlanta-based artist Mousa (Nabil Mousa) is perhaps best known for his startling and inspiring installations influenced by three religions in perpetual inter-conflict: Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

For Paradise Built on the Bones of the Slaughtered, Mousa has created a mixed-media sculpture made of the burned remains of the Bible, Koran and Torah, which illustrates his disenfranchisement with religion. Mousa notes that the three religions all share the same God, and profess to preach tolerance and mutual respect. Yet “they’re more notable today for their mutual antagonism, ill will, and violent acts,” Mousa said of three faiths. “My answer to that is these burned tomes that enact a kind of cleansing ritual, in which self-reflection about faith and mutual responsibility is the hopeful end-result.”

​Mousa draws from a well of inspiration bearing witness to his cultural heritage. Whether working with painting or mixed-media installation, his work deeply expresses his notions of justice and civil rights. As a result, many of his exhibitions are political, educational, thought-provoking, and sometimes controversial.

With the installation, which will be installed in Grand Rapids’ City Hall, Mousa asks viewers a pair of questions: which God do you want to take into your heart? The God of mercy and compassion or the God of vengeance and justice? “We have allowed others to focus our minds on our differences rather than the unifying message of love, forgiveness and mercy,” Mousa notes.

About Nabil Mousa (Mousa) (b. 1966 in Syria. Lives and Works in Atlanta):

Born in Syria and raised in the United States, Mousa incorporates the cultural tensions of both countries into his practice, combining them with his own personal convictions. While earlier examples of his work strictly appropriate Middle Eastern and Mediterranean design motifs, more recent examples relax them, allowing for looser representations that symbolize his new life in the United States. In this way, politics is omnipresent in Mousa’s work. This is not to say, however, that personal struggle is in any way diminished. Rather, Mousa’s vested interest in all aspects of life has been the common thread in all of his works. Raised in a conservative Christian household, Mousa is always pitting socio-religious oppression with self-realization – from his earliest works examining the Muslim niqab to his more recent series inviting Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike to come together in creative reflection over 9/11. Using color in unexpected ways, Mousa lets intuition and affect guide his oeuvre. His work is always framed by hope for greater equality, no matter how naïve or impossible that might seem in the face of ever-challenging political and religious difference.

About 874 Salamatina Projects:

Founded by Oksana Salamatina in 2008, Salamatina Gallery opened in Americana Manhasset, at 2032 Northern Boulevard, Manhhasset. The gallery was among the first to exhibit in the city, and the space allowed for the mounting of several projects that were historic in scope and unique to the space, including young artists alongside historic figures. In 2014, Salamatina created 874 Salamatina Projects in Atlanta, GA. Exhibitions at 874 Salamatina Projects will include artists' historical surveys, site-specific installations, and retrospectives. The gallery will showcase an array of intergenerational, conceptual art - across a variety of media - in spare environs.

 About ArtPrize:

ArtPrize is an independently organized international art competition that takes place Sept. 23-Oct. 11 in downtown Grand Rapids, offering a novel and entirely intriguing cultural experience for artists and art enthusiasts.

MEDIA CONTACT

Scott Richter

scott@gallery874.com

404.663.9307

874 SALAMATINA PROJECTS

874 Joseph E Lowery Blvd NW

Atlanta GA 30318

Scott Richter

404.480.0874

info@salamatina.com

HOURS OF OPERATION

Tuesday-Thursday 11 AM - 5 PM and by appointment

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