The Henry Art Gallery is pleased to announce
(We Decided To Let Them Say We Are Convinced Twice. It was More Convincing This Way.)
A project by Walid Raad
Nov 10, 2006-Feb 4, 2007
Nov 9, 2006: Artist Lecture, 7PM;
Opening Reception 8 10 PM
www.henryart.org/ex/walid.html
Walid Raad works with video, photography, and literary essays to investigate the contemporary history of war in his native Lebanon. (We Decided To Let Them Say We Are Convinced Twice. It Was More Convincing This Way.), a series of 15 large-scale photographs, specifically recalls the Israeli Armys invasion and siege of Beirut in 1982. That summer Raad, an intrepid 15-year-old with a telephoto lens, took photographs of near and distant military activity in West Beirut from his home in the eastern sector. Recently reprinting the pictures from the original, now degraded, negatives he discovered that the images unusual discoloration, creases, and holes offered a disturbing but realistic representation of a broken world rendered flat by the series of catastrophes that had befallen it.
Acclaimed for his long-running project The Atlas Group, Raad grapples with the representation of traumatic events of collective historical dimensions and the ways in which film, video, and photography function as documents of physical and psychological violence.
Exhibiting Artist Lecture:
Walid Raad & The Atlas Group The Loudest Muttering is Over
Thursday, November 9, 7 PM
Henry Auditorium
Discounted admission for Henry Members, Seniors & Students.
The Loudest Muttering is Over is a multimedia lecture performance using events from the Lebanese wars as a lens through which to examine how we represent, remember, and make sense of war. Raad incorporates slides, notebook pages, and videotape excerpts as historical artifacts attributed to imaginary sources, such as Dr. Fadi Fakhouri, a leading historian of Lebanese history, or Souheil Bachar, a former hostage. Raads lecture-performances conjure up an alternate universe that mimics conventional formats of visual and textual representation.
(We Decided To Let Them Say We Are Convinced Twice. It was More Convincing This Way.) A project by Walid Raad is curated by Associate Curator Sara Krajewski and generously supported by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, ArtsFund, and Paula Cooper Gallery. In-kind support provided by Hotel Max and Hogue Cellars. Additional funding for the exhibition publication provided by the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation.
Opening reception:
Thursday, November 9, 2006, 8 10 PM
Free to Henry Members,
For more information call 206.543.2281
The Henry Art Gallery
Founded in 1927, the Henry Art Gallery was the first public art museum in the State of Washington. The Henry engages diverse audiences in the powerful experience of artistic invention and serves as a catalyst for the creation of new work that inspires and challenges. The museum’s exhibitions bring important works of art to Seattle from throughout the world and bring into public view works of art from the Northwest.
Henry Art Gallery
Faye G. Allen Center for the Visual Arts
University of Washington
15th Avenue NE and NE 41st Street
Box 351410
Seattle, WA 98195-1410
Gallery information 206.543.2280
