Review – Walid El Masri: Cocoon
Three years after the beginning of the Arab Uprising, and despite numerous supposed false dawns since, there remains little reason for optimism in Syria today. In Cocoon, Paris-based artist Walid El Masri’s intricate reproductions of the dormant subject matter serve both to evoke the isolation and withdrawal prompted by the ongoing bloodshed in Syria, as well as coaxing out a deeper meditation on the wider life-process. While El Masri’s first solo exhibition in London is undoubtedly challenging, the strength of his work as a totality reveals itself in the lingering sensations of unsettling horror and flickering beauty which remain long in the memory.
