Beirut Art Center announces the opening of Years Of The Shining Face, an exhibition showcasing the works of artist Hussein Nassereddine. The exhibition will run from February 6 2025 until June 6 2025 at Beirut Art Center.
“But a day of God’s days is indeed like a thousand years by your counting.” — Surat Al Hajj (47)
These are perhaps years cast into time—time that feels both near and distant, as it descends from its strange and bitter heights. A thousand years pass like a nightfall or its forenoon, and the horizon, ablaze, opens up briefly: the singer’s face shines in the grass like a planet. Something in these years of the shining face could explain the endless longings.
[I have been here for a thousand years, arranging this space for you to inhabit.] The tireless songs, sung with the sorrow of yesterday or the day before, echo what has passed almost two thousand years ago.
What occupies me now? This moment in the days of God consumes me.
I claim my right to take my share from it—seventy years count like five minutes in the days of my beloved.
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Hussein Nassereddine’s solo show at Beirut Art Center presents the artist’s profound exploration of time and memory. It delves into the fates of the years, both near and far, through the lens of language, song, and personal history. The works evoke villages where horizons bloom, the fires in the desolate stretches of flesh and time, and the enduring songs that resonate across centuries.
Nassereddine’s art draws from the margins of language and the lost works of poets. By intertwining these with personal narratives from his ancestral village in southern Lebanon—a land that has been razed over time by Israeli violence—he reimagines Time and the landscape through sound, video, text, and sculptural works. The exhibition seeks to uncover layers of personal and political histories, creatin a symphony of words and sounds that echo through remembrance and repetition. It invites visitors to inhabit a space where the past and present converge, offering a poignant reflection on the passage of time.
Press release from Beirut Art Center
Image: Hussein Nassereddine. You Were Right O Heart. 2025. Installation view from Years Of The Shining Face, Beirut Art Center. Image courtesy of the artist and Beirut Art Center
