We are delighted to present the exhibition Freedom ° Love with paintings and sculptures from Ying-Tung Tseng (*1953 Tainan) and Semaan Khawam (*1974 Damascus).

“I am not free, so I can’t really talk about freedom. I can only talk about the lack of it”, says Semaan Khawam, who had to leave his homeland Syria when he was 14 years old. Since then, the artist has been living in Beirut, a city he loves but which, at the same time, takes so much from him, sometimes even too much. Khawam’s paintings and sculptures speak of torment and unfreedom, but they also speak of fragile hope. They tell us about the artist’s quiet dream to spread his wings and leave all boundaries and borders behind for good.

“A heart without boundary is the highest form of freedom”, says Ying-Tung Tseng. Love and freedom are the fundaments and the endpoints of his artistic work: as two intertwined energies they permeate his three-dimensional, colourful paintings. As a result, Tseng’s works rest entirely in themselves while passing their inner serenity and harmony on to the viewer. “The colours in my work originate from love. The style in my work (…) is without boundary, which is freedom.”

Freedom ° Love invites you to join a fascinating artistic dialogue which explores not only the light and dark facets of freedom and love but also their complex relationship.

Freedom ° Love is a dual city exhibition, presented in cooperation with the Asir Art Museum, Tainan.

» Photos: Semaan Khawam // Ying-Tung Tseng // A. Bondar for Galerie Kuchling