Press Release

Starting February 12th to March 10th 2010, in Siena, at the Magazzini del Sale, in the Palazzo Pubblico, will take place the anthological exhibition of Ali Hassoun. The artist who has been appointed to paint the "Cencio" for the July 2010 Palio di Siena.

Ali Hassoun, Italian by adoption, was born in Lebanon, in the city of Sidone, on 1964. In 1982 he moved to Siena to study at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, where he graduated in architecture in 1992.
In his works, he masterfully conjugates two cultures, the one of its native land Lebanon on the one hand, and the one absorbed in Italy on the other hand. Art becomes, therefore, a border land where these two cultures meet. The traditional and spiritual mysticism of Islam merges with the dynamic and evolutionary culture of the western world. The most evident theme arising from his pictorial quest is that of a journey, a mean to explore heterogeneous experiences and visions. Instead of using the term "clash of civilization", a dangerous but nevertheless widespread simplification, Hassoun proposes an idea of "humanity". Humanity meaning a universal quality common to all populations, based on the original spirituality coming before religious and political diversifications.
The artist is therefore the interpreter of different and jet comparable cultures, coexisting in the perfectly orchestrated space of his colorful canvas. The people of an Islam or Africa both experienced and dreamt of, are portrayed in his works in a captivating game of cultured quotes and indirect cross-references between main subject and background.
In this anthological exhibition, "Ali Hassoun at the confluence of the two seas", the artist will display works ranging from his training period in Siena in 1995 to the most recent ones created in his Studio in Milan.

Press office Paola Martino cell. 39 3332939557
paola.martino@fastwebnet.it