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Semaan Khawam – Birdman Wings and Wheels – Hoxton Gallery, Islington, London, July 2023 – I want to say there’s something delightful here but these pieces are not quite that, it isn’t delight, that’s the wrong word and anyway ‘delight’ is far too throwaway and there’s something rather special here on these walls. A depth, lots to read, conversations flowing from the walls of this delicious space up the City Road. Hoxton Gallery’s latest space is currently housed over two fabulous floors of a five storey Georgian townhouse on City Road somewhere towards Angel, up in Islington and as we’ve said before, this is a wonderful art gallery, all peeling wallpaper and stripped back paint rather than plush white walls, I do hope they resist the temptation to “do it up”.

Semaan Khawam (a.k.a. Birdman) is a Syrian-Lebanese artist based between Beirut and London. “His work encompasses both painting and sculpture, in addition to graffiti and poetry, that addresses contemporary issues such as migration and identity”. I must admit I knew absolutely nothing of Semaan Khawam until yesterday and an encounter with a listing previewing the show with some eye catching images and well, I was heading vaguely in that direction for the opening of the My Dog Sighs exhibition at Jealous so I may as well carry on up the road, see if things are as good as they looked on line..,

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The Birdman’s show looked like it might be something worth the effort from the brief slice of an intriguing flavour offered via the online visuals, it didn’t disappoint in real life, there’s times when you walk in to a gallery and just know from the off.  The paintings on the first of the two floors of the gallery immediately engage, they instantly delight (but no, we already established that was the wrong word), it really is more than just a delight, I mean these pieces are a delight, this show is something far more than that though, there’s immediately something very very real here, these are works that really matter.

These are great paintings and sculptures, they’re not ‘nice’ – paintings of birds could so easily be nice, or twee, there’s something here I can’t quite put a finger on, something almost spiritual? Whatever it is, there’s certainly a spirit, a warmth. Is it a warmth? An undercurrent of darkness? No, that isn’t it either but these are excellent pieces and this is a fine fine collection of work, every single piece that’s hung so well over the two exciting floors. Love it!  Love everything about it, love the birds, the beaks, the shapes, the muted colours, the rich rich reds, I love the sculptures, I love that they can’t quite be read, that nothing is obvious, that you have to search the pieces, that they question you the viewer as you try to question them. I like the commitment to the art here…

Semaan Khawam himself is introduced as the Birdman by his enthusiastic wine-offering supporters who insist I meet him, I never like meeting artists until I’ve met their work, next time though, next time ‘ll have far more that a handshake and this is great man, I’ve a million questions, then again, I really should ask the paintings themselves. I didn’t quite get the answers from this first encounter with the paintings and the strange bird sculptures (love the strange bird sculptures). Didn’t put my finger on any of it, these are clearly rather special pieces though – intriguing, as demanding as those finches and their mates the pigeons outside the studio here            

“Imagery and figuration of birds is prevalent in his work, in reference to his alter ego, and hence his nickname, as birds tend to possess freedoms in movement that human beings do not. The lovely little bastards have and will always have that over us….”.   Lovely little bastards, I like that, some of the language these little finches use outside the studio here as they wait in line for a go on the feeder is disgraceful. Are these dark paintings? I still haven’t got anywhere near putting a finger on it, still throwing it all around my head, I like that I haven’t put a finger on it, I really like this show.  

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“Semaan’s work has been exhibited in Lebanon, Bahrain, Jordan, Berlin, France, Italy, New York, Singapore, Taiwan and the UK, in over 30 collective exhibitions. He has also had numerous successful solo shows. Semaan appreciates collaborations with other artists; one of his many endeavours is the Sleeping with the Enemy productions which is an artists’ collective project.” And until this week I’m sorry to say I knew nothing of him, I knew nothing of the Birdman. Hey, that’s why art is so good, that’s why curiosity never killed the cat, that why I can never pass a gallery door without going in (or at least knocking on the ones that are so often locked), you go out to see one show, you leave it feeling rather underwhelmed but there’s always another one waiting around the corner, I’ve been at galleries most days this month, I particularly enjoyed this one, really need to go to this one again… (sw)

Semaan Khawam – Birdman Wings and Wheels at Hoxton Gallery, 366 City Road, Islington, London EC1V 2PY. The show runs until july 30th, the gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday, Midday until 8pm (6pm Sundays). It isn’t immediately obvious it is a gallery, don’t be expecting no big neon sign, find it up there are the top end of City Road, up by Angel, up where the Lady Owen Arms was back in the day, a place where many a good band played a nearly gig, knocked down years ago now so why I’m telling you I don’t know.   

As always, do click on an image to see the whole image or to run the salide show (and yes, I do need a new camara)