Diala Khodry takes on Beirut’s electric wire jungle

Lebanese artist Diala Khodry has unveiled her latest exhibition, Ishtirak (Subscription), at Art on 56th in Beirut, offering a unique perspective on the city's tangled web of electrical cables. While other artists have used these cables to represent the city's struggles and identity, Khodry takes a more existential and environmental approach, transforming the cables into oppressive structures that shape the urban space.

Her paintings depict electrical cables as thick, dark strands that dominate the scene, sometimes appearing as "networks of sharp blades" rather than mere wires. These cables twist and rise in mechanical patterns, affected by weather and ageing fixtures. They reshape the city's conditions, creating a "permitted geographical zone" where daily life is confined by the network of wires.

Unlike other artists who maintain concrete architectural forms within their works, Khodry's paintings define the city through the void left by the cables. This creates a stark contrast, emphasizing the weight of the urban fabric. The absence of birds in her paintings is deliberate, as they have previously occupied a distinct place in her work, offering a unique perspective on Beirut.

One painting in the exhibition, Reflections of Rainwater on Asphalt, delves into a more philosophical realm. It invites viewers to question the nature of Beirut and the reality it resides in, drawing parallels to Jean Baudrillard's concepts of simulation and hyperreality. The painting presents rainwater as both a mirror for Beirut's sky and a second ground upon which the sky appears to rest, creating a disorienting effect as the true sky is obscured behind the cables.

In this work, Khodry's visual language blurs the line between abstraction and realism, transporting viewers from the visible world to a domain of philosophical reflection. The painting's water pools, though small and confined, serve as a reminder of nature's fleeting moments of clarity amidst the city's harshness, prompting urgent questions about Beirut's identity and the precariousness of its reality.