zena el-khalil

Zena el-Khalil, born 1976 in London, has lived in Nigeria, London, New York, and Beirut. Zena is an installation artist and a painter. Her work centers on issues of war, love, family and religion. Her work is a direct reflection of the time and space she lives in. her palette presently consists of pinks, purples and golds. She has exhibited her work in New York, San Francisco, Lebanon, Japan, Nigeria and London to name a few places.

Zena is the co-founder and director of xanadu*, an art space/collective based in New York city and Beirut, dedicated to promoting young and/or under-represented artists. she lives in Beirut with her soul mate, Wael and their jack russel terrier, Tampopo.

Title:
"Between the traffic and the barbed wire, there is very little room to breathe."

I have been thinking lately about how my space around me is so constricted.
I can't move, think or breathe!

This is the result of all the traffic caused by the protestors and the re-building of roads and bridges (from last summer's war). Also, I have been worried about how civilians are arming themselves once again. Almost everyone is buying a gun, and this hasn't happened since the civil war!

Everywhere I look now, it's barbed wire and guns. I have never seen so much barbed wire before in Beirut. This silver wire is eating away my city trying to create fear as it imposes itself on the roads I drive on.

Between the traffic and the barbed wire, there is very little room to breathe.