Solo exhibition at The Third Line (Jan 16 - Feb 27, 2019) For Your Eyes by Jordan Nassar

The Third Line is pleased to present For Your Eyes, Jordan Nassar’s first solo exhibition at the gallery. Also marking the artist’s debut in the Gulf region, For Your Eyes brings to question the effects of diaspora on cultural and mnemonic identity through the various formal and conceptual layers of a new series of hand-embroidered works. Executed in collaboration with craftswomen living and working in Hebron, where embroidery skills have been passed down for generations, the patterned works juxtapose local traditions of making with Jordan’s western painterly aesthetic. Such incongruous stylistic coexistence metaphorically embodies the contrast between what Jordan refers to as his ‘Palestinian-ness’ and his out-of-place feeling while in Palestine.

From intricate geometric grids sewn by the Hebron women on areas of the canvas predetermined by Jordan, sprout up multicoloured landscape patches embroidered by the artist. Unrestrained by color palette, the craftswomen lay the foundations of Jordan’s kaleidoscopic panoramas, in which randomness of colour selection gives way to an evident complementarity and the impression that Jordan does, in fact, belong. Echoing efforts to map out reliefs of his identity and the difficulty such enterprise entails, are the titles of the show and works. Named after Umm Kulthum songs, the English renditions refer to lost in translation moments when literal meaning takes over the idiomatic one, often leading to an incomplete, and sometimes even inaccurate, understanding of cultural artefacts.

“In Arabic, the song For Your Eyes is an expression meaning something along the lines of 'just for you' (because you asked, because I love you, because you're beautiful, because your eyes are beautiful I'll do what you ask). But it's translated as For Your Eyes, which doesn't capture the romance, love, and actual significance of this phrase,” explains Jordan about the lag in translation. While one cannot always translate sentiments, the collaborative works in For Your Eyes sow the seeds to perhaps one day reap a complete own, rooted, persona.

Jordan Nassar, A Night Of Love, 2018, Hand embroidered cotton on cotton, 20 x 35.5, [HxW] (50.8 x 90.17 cm) / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Jordan Nassar, For Your Eyes, 2018, Hand embroidered cotton on cotton, 19.5 x 35.5 [HxW] (49.53 x 90.17 cm)/ Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Jordan Nassar, Hope Of My Life, 2018, Hand embroidered cotton on cotton, 34.5 x 36 [HxW] (87.63 x 91.44 cm)/ Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Jordan Nassar, I Am Waiting For You, 2018_Hand embroidered cotton on cotton, 34 x 36 [HxW] (86.36 x 91.44 cm) / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Jordan Nassar, Is Love Really Stronger, 2018, Hand embroidered cotton on cotton, 12 x 34 [HxW] (30.48 x 86.36 cm) / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Jordan Nassar, Memories, 2018, Hand embroidered cotton on cotton, 33.5 x 36 [HxW] (85.09 x 91.44 cm) / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Jordan Nassar, My Beloved Tendered Back, 2018, Hand embroidered cotton on cotton, 12 x 35 [HxW] (30.48 x 88.9 cm) / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Jordan Nassar, Patience Has Limits, 2018, Hand embroidered cotton on cotton, 20 x 34 [HxW] (50.8 x 86.36 cm) / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Jordan Nassar, Tale Of Love, 2018, Hand embroidered cotton on cotton, 12 x 36 [HxW] (30.48 x 91.44 cm)/ Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Jordan Nassar, They Reminded Me, 2018, Hand embroidered cotton on cotton, 19 x 34 [HxW] (48.26 x 86.36 cm)/ Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Jordan Nassar, Who Are You Thinking Of, 2018, Hand embroidered cotton on cotton, 12 x 36 [HxW] (30.48 x 91.44 cm) / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Jordan Nassar, You Confused My Heart, 2018, Hand embroidered cotton on cotton, 12 x 34 [HxW] (30.48 x 86.36 cm) / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Jordan Nassar, You Still Remember, 2018, Hand embroidered cotton on cotton, 12 x 34 [HxW] (30.48 x 86.36 cm) / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Jordan Nassar, You That Keeps Me Awake At Night, 2018, Hand embroidered cotton on cotton, 12 x 34 [HxW] (30.48 x 86.36 cm) / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

The Third Line, Jordan Nassar, For Your Eyes, 2019, Installation view / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

The Third Line, Jordan Nassar, For Your Eyes, 2019, Installation view / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

The Third Line, Jordan Nassar, For Your Eyes, 2019, Installation view / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

The Third Line, Jordan Nassar, For Your Eyes, 2019, Installation view / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Jordan Nassar

Jordan Nassar, (b. 1987, New York City) addresses the intersection of craft, language, history, (geo)politics, and technology in his work. Beginning with the intricacies of identity and cultural participation, as a Palestinian-American, Jordan treats traditional craft more as medium than topic, examining subjects such as cultural heritage, ownership, exchange and absorption; emigrant nostalgia for the 'homeland' and its generational repercussions; geography, politics, and orientalism; symbology, codes and language systems; superstition and religious belief; post-internet visual language; and representational and geometric abstraction.

Jordan’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions including The New Minimalists, Abrons Art Center, NYC, USA (2018); Long, Winding Journeys: Contemporary Art and the Islamic Tradition, Kotonah Museum of Art, NY, USA (2018); Dunya, Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA, USA (2017); And a Night, Evelyn Yard, London, UK (2016); and Ausstellung 61, Exile Gallery, Berlin, Germany (2015). Jordan lives and works in New York City.

The Third Line

The Third Line is a Dubai-based art gallery that represents contemporary Middle Eastern artists locally, regionally and internationally. The Third Line also hosts non-profit, alternative programs to increase interest and dialogue in the region. Represented artists include: Abbas Akhavan, Ala Ebtekar, Amir H. Fallah, Babak Golkar, Farah Al Qasimi, Farhad Moshiri, Fouad Elkoury, Hassan Hajjaj, Hayv Kahraman, Huda Lutfi, Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Laleh Khorramian, Lamya Gargash, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Pouran Jinchi, Rana Begum, Sahand Hesamiyan, Sara Naim, Sherin Guirguis, Shirin Aliabadi, Slavs and Tatars, Sophia Al-Maria, Tarek Al-Ghoussein, Youssef Nabil and Zineb Sedira.