[Los Angeles, May 19, 2009] “inside/outside & other oxymorons” [sic] is a new exhibition that explores the work of three multicultural artists—Sama Alshaibi, Vahé Berberian and Adnan Charara—whose lives of migration and experiences with war, displacement and political instability have given them a unique perspective on identity, culture and society. Their work is created and inspired from the space of the in-between; from the inside and outside of multiple cultures and perspectives. Using diverse mediums, these artists’ works are an expression of their respective journeys. The new Inside/Outside Gallery at Levantine Cultural Center will present more than 30 of their works from June 20-July 31, 2009, with an opening reception on June 20, 6-10 pm, and other art salons to follow. This is the first time any of these works will have been exhibited in Los Angeles. Read artists' bios.

Born in Basra, Iraq in 1973 to a Palestinian mother and Iraqi father, SAMA ALSHAIBI is a photography and multimedia artist who received her M.F.A. in Photography and Media Arts from the University of Colorado at Boulder. War and displacement left a strong imprint on her family—her mother’s family fled Palestine for Iraq in 1948 and then later her father and mother and their respective families left Iraq one by one over a 23-year period. Indeed, much of Alshaibi’s work focuses on themes of restlessness, diaspora, hybrid identity and exile, suggestive of subtle negotiations and shifts between personal and family history and expectations.

VAHÉ BERBERIAN, a Lebanese Armenian, was born and raised in Beirut in an intellectual milieu but fled the civil war there and settled in Los Angeles in 1976, where he earned his degree in journalism and worked as a journalist until the early 1990’s. Greatly influenced by his parents’ love of art and literature, he first studied painting under the tutelage of his mother then later with Paul Giragossian. A renaissance man, Berberian is not only a prolific painter, he is also a successful novelist, playwright, actor, director and comedian. His one-man shows in Armenian are routinely sold out internationally. The deportation of his parents from Turkey, the war in Beirut, the European counter-culture which he became a part of in his teens, the city of Los Angeles and his own hybrid identity have undoubtedly been rich fodder for his work. His deceptively spare paintings and much of his written work focuses on creation without boundaries, searching for a common culture where meaning and understanding is fluid and stripped to its most basic. A multimedia artist who works most often on canvas and wood, Berberian has had more than 30 individual and group exhibitions throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and the Middle East.

Born in Lebanon in 1962, ADNAN CHARARA grew up moving between Lebanon and Sierra Leone in West Africa. At the age of 19, he moved to the U.S. for his university education, eventually receiving his B.F.A in Architectural Design from the Massachusetts College of Arts in Boston. While many would consider Charara a painter, etcher, print-maker and sculptor, he prefers to call himself a visual poet and philosopher. Charara’s colorful, attractive and whimsical works are deceptively full of commentary. With movement as a constant in his life, much of his work focuses on physical and emotional migration, the merging of cultures, assimilation, the search for new identity and the accumulation of knowledge through life’s journeys. His whimsical style and lyrical lines represent his desire to create a cross-cultural visual language.

Addressing a void in the American art world, Inside/Outside Gallery is the first gallery in the United States to specialize in presenting contemporary Arab/Middle Eastern artists. Inside/Outside seeks to challenge Orientalist stereotypes by providing the general public with both a physical and online location to view/appreciate art that is representative of the diversity and evolving cultural identity of the Arab/Muslim world and its growing diaspora. Read artists' bios.

“inside/outside & other oxymorons” is curated by Deeba Haider and presented by Levantine Cultural Center at the Inside/Outside Gallery, 5998 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90035. Info, 310.657.5511.

Media, contact Jordan Elgrably, 310.657.5511 or Deeba Haider, 646.472.9343.