WHATIFTHEWORLD presents ‘Rage Against the Dying of the Light’, a solo exhibition by Hanna Noor Mahomed.
Hanna Noor Mahomed, Do not go gentle into that good night (Imane Khelif), 2024. Oil on canvas, 90 x 70.4 x 4.6cm. Courtesy of the artist and WHATIFTHEWORLD.
“For nothing is fixed, forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have. The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.” – James Baldwin
‘Rage Against the Dying of the Light’ explores how we observe, process, and record our times through painting and drawing. The exhibition pays homage to the 1951 poem by Dylan Thomas titled Do not go gentle into that good night, a poem dedicated to his dying father. In our times of death and destruction, violence and bigotry, it is imperative that we rage against the dying of the light of our humanity.
The world is a dark place, but we cannot allow the darkness to win. Seeking freedom and joy for ourselves and others in this darkness requires you to put up a fight. The paintings in the exhibition reference a myriad of stories embodying a fight for freedom. They combine the truth and fictional imagination, which in turn abstracts our reality, not in a way that undermines it, but in a way that invites potential, expansion, newness, and imagination.
Storytelling through drawing and painting as a means of expression and understanding the world around us predates my (our) existence; the same way our ancestors attempted to make sense of the world around them by painting in caves, it is inherently human nature to try and make sense of the world around us through our hands, minds, and eyes. How we process the world and perceive reality is constantly shifting and subjective; it is never fixed. The abstract forms in the paintings become a tool to challenge the viewer and expand how we define and imagine our world.
The exhibition will be on view from the 28th of September until the 2nd of November, 2024. For more information, please visit WHATIFTHEWORLD.
