In this exhibition 'Rust' Samer Abu Ajamieh presents his latest collection of art works and assemblages. Rust is the effect of a process of decay, disintegration and transformation, in which the forces of nature weather man-made objects. For Abu Ajamieh rust offers a poignant metaphor of the human condition. The artist is drawn to found objects which he often collects from a valley near his home. Abu Ajamieh retrieves redundant, obsolete fragments and uses them as starting points for his art works. Preferring everyday materials to traditional art mediums, he believes in making art out of the by- products of society.
In a series of paintings prior to this work he created abstract images from tar, in which he explored the painterly qualities of the medium.
While, in these works, he is interested in the effect weather creates on metal objects, notably the colours and textures. On show we find a series of rusted car exhausts which the artist explains have all exploded from pressure, once again symbolic of contemporary times. Old TV antennas that used to fill the skyline before the availability of satellite dishes are also placed in the gallery as sculptural objects that Abu Ajamieh works with to express ideas of freedom and confinement.
This theme is echoed in his most recent work, which comprises of a series of cages that are normally used for taming and confining birds but which have been filled by the artist with a selection of personal objects.

Dr. Tina Sherwell
June 2003