Steve Sabella

Steve Sabella (Palestinian, b. 1975) Beyond Euphoria signed, dated and numbered 'Steve Sabella 2011 1/5' (on the reverse) lambda print on diasec 50 x 80¾in. (127 x 205cm.) Executed in 2011, this work is number one from an edition of five plus two artist's proofs The first of four large-scale digital photo-montages, collectively titled beyond euphoria and dedicated to the popular revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt in the Spring of 2011, presents us with a tumultuous composition at once vaguely familiar and utterly elusive. As the eye moves involuntarily, restlessly, from one sharp irregular form to the next it begins to connect fragments into clusters of shapes, supporting, protecting or mirroring each other. This is when contemplation becomes participation. The title too is ambiguous: colloquially it connotes the intensification of bliss, a state of being intrinsically fraught with threats of unsustainability and the ephemeral nature of an event. Conventionally though, it references time and questions the after, the post-euphoric and, thus, addresses the future of this intense yet fragile space of undefined possibilities. In the context of Sabella's oeuvre, however, Beyond Euphoria is intimately related to earlier photo-montage works beginning with In Exile (2008). Sabella manages through the creation of arresting photo collages to push for a renewed understanding of the photographic image while delving deep into psychological states and the state of the world. (Christa Paula, 2012).

Steve Sabella (Palestinian, b. 1975) Cécile Elise Sabella signed in Arabic, signed, titled, numbered and dated 'Steve Sabella Cécile Elise Sabella 2008 1/5' (on the reverse) lambda print hand-stitched on canvas 23 5/8 x 43¼in. (60 x 110cm.) Executed in 2008, this work is number one from an edition of five plus two artist's proofs DONATED BY THE ARTISTS TO SUPPORT THE UNITED NATIONS WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME 'When Cécile was born in 2004, it was only a question of time until we had difficulties communicating. She speaks Swiss German; I speak Arabic, and neither of us understands what the other is talking about. She is simply foreign to me. This work attempts to establish a relationship between us by photographing her clothes from both sides-inside and outside. One side connotes her world and the other connotes mine. A cloth, no matter what, will always have its other side. This mirrors the basic fact that in essence, Cécile and I will always have a connection. The book gives chance to notice and sense similarities, differences, and contrasts among many other nuances. Since we moved to live in London from Jerusalem my daughter feels out of place. For the first time, Cécile and I have started to communicate using our own language-the language of exile.' (Steve Sabella, 2008). 'A tender and apologetic declaration of love from the artist to his young daughter, portrays pairs of square-cuts from the child's colorful clothes. Conceived as an artist's book, these images deal with duality, but they also mirror the essential connection between a father and a daughter, two exiles born in Jerusalem, two tailored from the same cloth.' (Christa Paula)

STEVE SABELLA (PALESTINE, NE EN 1975 A JERUSALEM) In Exile signé, daté et numéroté 'Steve Sabella, In Exile, 2008, edition 3/6 + 2 AP' (au verso) tirage lambda contrecollé sur aluminium 136 x 125 cm. (53½ x 49¼ in.) Réalisée en 2008, cette oeuvre fait partie d'un ensemble de 6 exemplaires + 2 AP et est numérotée 3/6. " f " : In addition to the regular Buyer's Premium, a commission of 5.5% (i.e. 6.578% inclusive of V. A. T.) will be charged to the Buyer. It will be refunded to the Buyer upon proof of export of the lot outside the European Union within the legal time limit. IN EXILE, LAMBDA PRINT MOUNTED ON ALUMINIUM, SIGNED, DATED AND NUMBERED 3/6 BY STEVE SABELLA

Steve Sabella, (Palestinian, born 1975) Euphoria, 2010 Lambda print and diasec mount. Signed. Number 2 in an edition of 6+ 2 APs. 155 x 127cm (61 x 50in). Estimate: $14,000 - 18,000, AED 51,000 - 66,000 Request Condition Report Sabella's practice is noted for its on-going investigations of theexilic condition. Questions of identity and belonging juxtaposedto, what he calls, the 'toxic' political realities of EastJerusalem engendered the chronicling of the artists psychologicalagonies as a mounting sense of alienation threatened to disconnecthim from his physical environment, from self and from others. Thisstate of 'mental exile' culminated in the iconic 2008 series InExile created in London shortly after the artist's departure fromJerusalem. There, duplicate fragments of architectural details andwindows are obsessively layered and reassembled to composetapestries of geometric abstracts, urban simulacra or labyrinthinecognitive maps. The dialectic of place and mental state runs like a thread throughSabella's work. This seems underpinned by the desire forrecognition, a desire, in the Hegelian sense, with thetransformative power from the I to the We, a process doomed tofailure unless coercive force is renounced – an unlikely scenarioif the status quo persists. Euphoria (2010) heralds a lifting of the state of 'mental exile',the realisation that identity is liquid and situational and thatchoice of context is an option. It is perhaps not surprising thatit was created in physical exile. Montaged from hundreds of shotsof trees the resulting image of organic fluidity signifiescathartic relief, emanating a sense of the ecstatic and thesublime. Anthropomorphised shapes dance against the softly patteredbackground forming ever new aesthetic possibilities in the promiseof limitless expansion. Steve Sabella is holder of the coveted Ellen Auerbach Price fromthe Academy of the Arts in Berlin and was one of the artistscommissioned to create work for the inauguration of the Arab Museumof Modern Art in Doha earlier this year. Words provided by Christa Paula.

Steve Sabella (Palestinian, b. 1975) In Exile signed, titled, dated and numbered 'Steve Sabella - in exile - 2008- 2/6 (on the reverse) Lambda print mounted on aluminium 49 1/8 x 53½in. (125 x 136cm.) Executed in 2008, this work is number two from an edition ofsix Literature Hossein Amirsadeghi (ed.), New Vision: Arab Contemporary Art inthe 21st Century, London, 2009, p. 250 (illustrated incolour) Contemporary Practices Visual Arts from the Middle East magazine,Volume VI 2010. LAgenda Magazine, Territory in Exile - Exile of Identity, January2010, p. 26. Others from the edition have been exhibited in Dubai, This is Not a Love Song, The Empty Quarter, Dubai March 9April 4, 2010 Bahrain, National Museum, Palestine, Creativity in all its States,December 10 2009 - February 11, 2010 Paris, Institut du Monde Arab, Palestine: La Creation Dans Tous SesEtats, 23 June 22 November 2009 Berlin, Gallery Caprice Horn, Deconstructing Myths & Realties,May 2 September 10, 2009 Turin, Palazzo Piozzo, The Gates of Mediterranean, 23 April 28September, 2008 (illustrated, p. 134)