Biography
Gaby Sahhar is a Palestinian-French artist and activist based in London and a recent Fine Art graduate from Goldsmiths College, University of London. Sahhar’s practice mixes painting, performance and video and explores the role of the privileged 'male’ in systems of Capitalism in London from a queer perspective. Much of Sahhar’s work is autobiographical, often exploring identity in relation to gender. They consider their practice as the voice of someone who struggles to relate to anything masculine. With a focus on men in particular, Sahhar tries to understand how the changes that occur in London like gentrification are caused by the actions of these men, and how their shared characteristics and shared, gendered identity, informs and shapes such processes - to the detriment of others.
Sahhar uses their practice as a form of protest against gentrification, something that directly affects their way of life and their home environment of South London. With their work, Sahhar refuses to sit powerless and watch their environment be shaped and changed by the privileged few. Finding links between the struggle over public and private space in London with the state of occupation in Palestine, in recent work Sahhar connects their concerns to their Palestinian heritage, making work that examines contemporary Palestinian culture.
