15 Works We Want from Intersect 21

 Rania Matar, Lea, Beirut, Lebanon, 2019. Courtesy Galerie Tanit 
 

By PAUL LASTER, February 2021 

A virtual exhibition presenting art, design and photography from 21 galleries in Southern California, the Middle East and North Africa, Intersect 21, which runs through February 22, offers a unique opportunity for cultural exchange from the opposite sides of the world.

Linked by warm weather climates and the creative thought that comes out of those inspiring realms, the works on view in this online fair are smart, colorful and speak to issues related to their distinct domains. Making a curated selection of works that we would like to add to our imaginary collection, we chose fifteen must-have pieces in a variety of media and genres.

  Aya Haidar, You’re Edible Without Salt, from the Tolteesh series, 2019. Courtesy Athr Gallery
 

Lebanese-born, American photographer Rania Matar explores issues of personal and collective identity through images of female adolescence and womanhood at Galerie Tanit, while Leila Heller Gallery offers a photo of Elizabeth Taylor dressed as an odalisque by Iranian photographer Firooz Zahedi, who first befriended the actress when she traveled to Tehran in 1976. 

Palestinian artist Khaled Hourani captures the first exhibition of Pablo Picasso in Palestine in his painting at Zawyeh Gallery and Lebanese painter Tagreed Darghouth employs expressive brushwork in paintings of Palestinian trees at Saleh Barakat Gallery. Meanwhile, Afghani self-taught sculptor Alikhan Abdollahi creates creatures fashioned from cardboard, paper, paint and glue that are half-human, part-myth at The Gallery of Everything.
 

Khaled Hourani, Picasso in Palestine #2, 2019. Courtesy Zawyeh Gallery
 

Le Lab presents a collection of pastel-hued furniture created by Lebanese interior architect and product designer Richard Yasmine, whereas Edward Cella Art + Architecture bedazzles viewers with Californian artist Kendell Carter’s sculpture of a pair of 14k gold-plated shoes.

Expanding our knowledge of contemporary art, photography and design, the exhibitors at Intersect 21 highlight surprises rather than focusing on the familiar. WM 
 

Lita Albuquerque, Stellar Axis: South Pole Activation, 2014. Courtesy Peter Blake Gallery
 

Alia Ali, Infinity, 2017. Courtesy Galerie SINIYA28
 

Alikhan Abdollahi, Untitled, 2010. Courtesy The Gallery of Everything
 

 Firooz Zahedi, Elizabeth Taylor Dressed as an Odalisque II, 2011. Courtesy Leila Heller Gallery
 

 Anthony James, Hexagram Portal, 2020. Courtesy Melissa Morgan Fine Art
 

Richard Yasmine, Beirut Collection, 2018. Courtesy Le LAB
 

Bryony Dunne, Salama Eid, Wadi Sharegg, 2013. Courtesy TINTERA
 

 Dimitris Ntokos, E, 2019. Courtesy Al-Tiba9
 

Kendell Carter, I Am Effigy for a New Normalcy, Mr. Hippy and Mr. Hood, 2018. Courtesy Edward Cella Art + Architecture
 

Tagreed Darghouth, From the series The Tree Within, A Palestinian Olive Tree, 2018. Courtesy Saleh Barakat Gallery
 

Nargess Hashemi, MAKRAMA, 2019. Courtesy Khak Gallery
 

Saoud Abdallah, Untitled, 2020. Courtesy Wadi Finan Art Gallery