"Gas nozzles, road signs, a truck bed, or car seats repeat throughout, but not as abstract motifs; these are actual objects synonymous with distances, journeys, and travel, which are the exhibition’s implicit themes. For Shalabi, the exhibition considers a post-oil future of the Arab world, a time at which we have yet to arrive. This anticipation is only heightened by his placement of each piece at an expanse from each other, creating a cohesive installation that hinges on distance, literally and figuratively. "

Essay by Leah Triplett Harrington, Director of Exhibitions and Contemporary Curatorial Initiatives at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

"Most of the stuff Abed Elmajid Shalabi represents in sculpture comes from the near-universal culture of cars and trucks. But the Richmond-based Palestinian Israeli artist transfigures everyday things by reducing them to fragments and rendering them in unexpected materials. The centerpiece of his Hamiltonian Artists show is a cast model of part of a truck bed made primarily of fiberglass-reinforced concrete. The form of the bed is familiar, but it’s made of a substance over which a truck might drive, thus melding a vehicle with its environment.

The title of the show, “When Tomorrow Arrives We Will Love Life,” is taken from a poem by Palestinian writer Mahmoud Darwish. Lines from Darwish’s verse may be featured in the text pieces Shalabi makes on metal highway signs coated with a reflective surface. It’s hard to tell, since the artist piles the words on top of each other so some can be read, yet the overall meaning is indecipherable.

Such ambiguity is typical of the sculptor’s work, which alienates items from their ordinary uses. A gasoline-pump nozzle is simulated in glazed ceramic and affixed to a wall. Two essentially identical yellow bucket seats, which look to be plastic but are also ceramic, appear unequal because they’re placed on found pedestals of different sizes. The objects Shalabi scatters around the gallery are recognizable, but they serve as signposts to an unknown journey."

-Mark Jenkins

Full article available here.

"Abed Elmaji Shalabi ‘s work is rooted in the transformation of everyday objects into emotionally and politically-charged sculptures. Shalabi uses ceramic as the main material in his work, allowing him to create visually-appealing gloss objects that conceal their fragile and dysfunctional nature. Through a combination of ceramic, found objects, concrete, wood, and aluminum, Shalabi's work blurs the line between fragility and solidity. His work explores the intersection of Western and Arab cultures, highlighting the gap between the promises and realities of capitalist urban design. Shalabi's installations are theatrical spaces that examine power structures and gender relationships, particularly as they relate to the experiences of queer individuals and the Arab community."

Read full interview here.