Samir Sammoun:
Art Consultant Spotlight “Beyyad, in homage to my father,” is the transla on of the tle of Samir Sammoun’s oil pain ng, “Beyyad homage a mon pere.” All the elements seem to be in unison, from the grasses on the sloping hills to the leaves adorning the trees; even the clouds in the distant sky appear to be following the same rhythmic flow and beat. Another unifying factor is the usage of an earth red undertone, which is revealed in various areas, crea ng a warm visual undercurrent. Establishing such tones onto a canvas gives the ar st a middle baseline to organize the lightest and darkest values of a pain ng, crea ng unity. Amid all the colors within a pain ng there is an effect called simultaneous contrast, in which colors in a pain ng affect the percep on of each color that is next to it. This phenomenon was studied in depth by French chemist Michel‐Eugène Chevreul in 1839 a er many experiments during his tenure at the Gobbelins Tex le Factory. What ini ally prompted his inves ga ons were the observa ons made when he observed different colored yarns were appearing different, but upon examina on, realized that the colors themselves were not changing, just their appearance in rela on to the others. His research in how light and color behave had significant impact on the Impressionists and how they painted. Essen ally, a color will appear different to the eye when it is placed next to different colors, yet be unaltered, depending on the colors and values surrounding it. In Chevruel’s words, “In the case
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Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibi ons/ News/ Events, Feb. 2016