David Najib Kasir Artist Talk

"Neighborhoods  in Subtraction" is an exhibition that interrogates the role Western  media plays in constructing cultural narratives, while centering a  caring and concerning lens on the destruction of Syria and its people  through large-scale paintings.

For  Kasir, the works start from a personal place. “Iraq is my father’s  country, and Syria is my mother’s as well as the second home of my  youth. It is where my aunts, uncles and cousins are still living. It is  where there are buildings where I slept in and streets where I played  tag and other games as a child. I’ve witnessed years of destruction of  my countries from US invasion, with very little regard from Western  mainstream media to civilian casualties.”

This  personal experience fueled Kasir’s anger and frustration, and gives way  to large-scale paintings that place the viewer in the center of the  neighborhood experiencing destruction. The viewer is confronted with  encounters…