Lydia Cohen

These men represent patriarchal systems within culture and society. 

They are middle eastern male bodies, they wear Dishdashas from Bahrain and leather yellow slippers from Morocco. Western media representations of the Middle Eastern body are often distorted and fuelled with political agenda.

We view this work in a western context, in the context of the Western culture it’s uncommon to see men dance. The video seeks to reverse this gaze. As a female I employed these men, paid them and directed their bodies. 

These large scale paintings (3M x 2M) (10 x 7 Ft) explore and celebrate the beauty of the female form. 

Images: 1, 2, 3

Deserted Cities.

Purple, Red, Blue.

(210 x 300 M) (7 x 10 FT)

Image: 4, 5

Deserted City. Red. (210 x 300 M) (7 x 10 FT)

Deserted City. Orange & Neon Yellow. (160 x 200 M). (5 x 7 FT)

Hangman. Four men hung. Neon Colour. (170 x 200 M). (6 x 7 FT)

This body of work, a series of paintings, ‘Deserted Cities’ depicts cities deserted due to social and political turmoil and violence. 

Single screen Installation. HD Flat screen TV wall mounted. High definition video with sound / Total Duration: 2:17 min looped.

Subject: Mahmoud, Edgware Road, London.

Testing the grounds of contemporary representation: Mahmoud the subject in this video works in one of the many Lebanese restaurants on Edgware Road, London’s most visibly Arab district.

Mahmoud sits on a small carpet with a red Hookah pipe positioned to his right. He wears a Keffiyeh (a traditional middle eastern headdress) and faces the direction of his travel.

A desert CGI constructed virtual background creates a backdrop for the journey as Mahmoud’s carpet skims above cacti, sand dunes and an oasis. The work plays on fallacies, notions of the desert and a westerner’s Orientalist Gaze. The desert has long been the playground for stories of magic, intrigue and mystical happenings in both western and Arabic fables and mythology.

The Desert

Video: 05'10. 1080 x 1920. [Looped] The video employs the use of found footage with layered text. This text is a transcription of a channeled communication of consciousness from the earth. In summary it states the earth is a conscious being - just as we are. When there is a collective human trauma such as war, bombings or genocide the vibration of that collective trauma is held within that geographical space of the earth. The desert is a location that has played host to the majority of human trauma and suffering - historically and until this present day. 

The Desert

3 x 98' x 61' Acrylic on Canvas When there is a collective human trauma such as war, bombings or genocide the vibration of that collective trauma is held within that geographical space of the earth. The desert is a location that has played host to the majority of human trauma and suffering - historically and until this present day. The paintings depict the energy and visual imagery of the desert. The emotion captured in these paintings is the energy of pain and trauma. We are intuitive beings and are able to read emotion through mark making. 

Installation:

Double Screen Installation. 2x Flat screen HD TV placed next to each other wall mounted. High Definition video with sound / Total duration: 04:21 min Loop.

Subject: Saddik, Edgware Road, London.

Saddik works in a Lebanese restaurant in London’s predominantly Arab populated district Edgware Road. He wears a Keffiyeh, a traditional item of Middle Eastern headwear and gazes directly toward the viewer. This gaze is mirrored in the adjacent video. The viewer stands in the centre of both screens and receive Saddik’s gaze on both sides.

This video portrait of a man of Arab descent in traditional clothing, maintaining an un compromised presence is met with a surreal, high contrast and high colour backdrop immediately placing Saddik in a hypnotic, fictional environment impossible to locate.

Stars and flowers create a somewhat beautiful aesthetic, whilst female voices and indecipherable sounds the high-resolution aesthetics and traditional clothing creates a questionable setting.

Installation:

Single Screen Installation HD TV wall mounted. High definition video with sound / Total duration: 05:57 min Loop.

Subject: CGI Hookah pipe

The Hookah pipe also known as a waterpipe, narghile or shisha, has historically been symbolic of the middle eastern culture, and is a single or multi-stemmed instrument for vaporizing and smoking flavoured tobacco. It often maintains an elaborate winding form and detailed patterns; its design is intricate and distinct often in deep red and green differing from the influence of Western design.

The hookah pipe’s distinct flowing design references the snake in the famous Orientalist painting by French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme, ‘The Snake Charmer’ in which an adolescent child is depicted from the back supposedly charming a snake which lays in his/her arms whilst an audience of men watch the spectacle. For Gérôme this scene depicted the concept of ‘the Oriental other’ an image/impression very different from his own culture.