The exhibition ‘The Trash-ic or Trash in the Face of Beauty’ is Rebeiz’s personal view on contemporary societal issues, examined both through the techniques of the Great Masters and applied art. It presents many contrasts, throwing up interesting questions and exploring the tension between trash and beauty, and how they coexist as one in art. ‘The Trash-ic or Trash in the Face of Beauty’ is Mouna’s second solo exhibition in London, consisting of 17 works, some of which include digital and melodic installations.
Commenting on her upcoming exhibition Rebeiz stated:
“The trash-ic. Or trash in the face of beauty. How do they cohabit?
It’s not exactly new. Hieronymous Bosch and Goya, Balthus, and Picasso’s erotic works blazed the trail: the scandalous, the grotesque, the hardly tolerable, the violent and the beautiful coexist as one in art. Even so, here it is not about painting trash as much as it is about painting a period that is “trash”. Not provocative or scandalous for scandal’s sake, but rather an attempt to convey the movement of the times, via the movement of the paintbrush.
Creating to comprehend… creating to pierce the mystery of a world in which we can feel alien, displaced. Creating to understand the intentional refusal of the aesthetically pleasing, and decadence and obscenity raised as new norms. Creating to truthfully reflect the sad decline of mankind. Creating to resist. To continue to be. To exist, (h)ic et nunc. Creating, that trash may also be chic.
And so it is that trash and beauty generate/nourish each other, coexisting in the face of controversy and drawing their respective matrixes from a society in search of new points of reference. One no longer exists without the other. Without scandal, there can be no history of art… but still…”
To coincide with the exhibition and in support of Innocence in Danger, Rebeiz has asked internationally renowned designers and artists to apply their individual creative energies to produce unique and precious objects from ceramic piggy-banks. Select piggy-banks will be auctioned by Sotheby’s on the opening night.
To view the silent auction online please go to: www.trashicauction.co.uk
Participating Designers were Buccellati, Camila Batmanghelidjh , Catherine Walker, Chantal Thomas, Christian Lacroix, Dahouk Chamsi Basha, Ector, Elie Saab, Emilio Pucci, Esther Freud, Etro, Giles Deacon, Giuseppe Zanotti , Ilias Lalaounis, Helen McCrory, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Jimmy Choo, Sophie Fiennes, Lanvin, Maria Grachvogel, Philip Tracy, Rene Caovilla, Roger Vivier, Solange Azagury-Partridge, Sonia Rykiel, Swarovski, Stephen Jones Millinery, Stephen Webster, Zaha Hadid, Zandra Rhodes.
All proceeds from the piggy banks will go towards the charity, a world movement for the protection of children against all forms of sexual abuse. This will enable the event to reach beyond the exhibition into dark areas of life and bring hope.
Select piggy banks and a complete list of participants will be available to online bidders.
About Innocence in Danger
Innocence in Danger UK is part of an international child protection organisation registered in the UK two years ago as a not-for-profit. Affiliated with the international web of charities of the same name and founded in 1999 by Homayra Sellier, Innocence in Danger is now active in seven countries: France, Switzerland, Germany, Colombia, Austria, the US and the UK. The goal of Innocence in Danger is to identify, rescue, support and accompany victims of sexual abuse and exploitation.
Their actions range from communication campaigns to running summer camps for victims and their families (including an art therapy program initiated by their founder since 2002) to funding research.
Their main activities in the UK are:
1. Supporting the mandatory reporting of known and suspected child abuse in Regulated Activities.
2. A nationwide educational programme for parents and children about staying safe online and on all social media: tours in schools will help families, parents and teachers build protective frameworks for children online.
3. Supporting a Helpline for victims of sexual abuse, staffed by a team of UK solicitors dedicated and specialised in child abuse, providing advice and guidance to victims at no charge.
4. Setting up Innocence in Danger Summer camps/retreats based on the model of those set up by Mrs Sellier as of 2002, in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Columbia. These are full scholarship retreats for the children and their guardians; attendance costs, food, lodging and transportation are covered in full by IID UK.
5. Contributing to the funding of neuroscientific and epigenetic research into to the impacts of trauma. This research will have enormous implications, for criminal justice systems around the world but most importantly will open up possibilities into healing the parts of the brain injured by childhood abuse. IID UK believe this research will be a medical and societal revolution; through which violence and abuse will be perceived differently but moreover the possibility of physical aid will become available.