‘Defiance’ - a striking exhibition by 5 Palestinian artists from Gaza

Image above: Beach Camp by Raed Issa / 2010, Acrylic on Canvas, 175x173 cm / Courtesy of Arts Canteen and The Artist

The exhibition opened on April 19 and will run until May 6. All five artists are emerging talents in the Middle East. Each artist – Majed Shala, Shareef Sarhan, Nidal Abu Oun, Raed Issa and Mohamed Abusal - tell their own story: the conscious choice to use vivid colours, the playful and detailed depiction of symbols such as the cactus - symbolic of endurance – or using the shapes identified with traditional calligraphy but which are never resolved into meaningful text.

The curator Aser El Saqqa explains: "This exhibition celebrates the determined agency of five artists to overcome the environment in which they work while simultaneously being inspired and challenged by it. The very contemplation of creating a work of art in Gaza is an act of defiance. The fact that it is exhibited here in London is an act of defiance, as is the mode in which London audiences may interpret it. Each artist tells their own story: the conscious choice to use vivid colours, the hopeful form of a pregnant woman or the playful and detailed depiction of symbols such as the cactus - symbolic of endurance – or using the shapes identified with traditional calligraphy but which are never resolved into meaningful text. The artists’ power is evident as they transform ugliness and despair into beauty and light as the mundane forms of concrete, satellite dishes, asbestos roofs and washing lines are presented to us."

The artists’ power is evident as they transform ugliness and despair into beauty and light as the mundane forms of concrete, satellite dishes, asbestos roofs and washing lines are presented to us.

Arts Canteen is a London based cultural venture. Its aim is to build artistic relationships between the Arab world and Mediterranean. It provides platforms for emerging and mid-career artists who create exciting contemporary visual art and music.

Cactus by Mohammed Abusal / 2010, Acrylic on canvas, 100x70 cm / Courtesy of Arts Canteen and The Artist

Three Graces by Nidal Abu Oun / Courtesy of Arts Canteen and The Artist

All art works are for sale.

For more information visit a website of Leytonstone's Stone Space gallery.