Plants bend toward the sun to seek light, their stems grow longer as they tackle obstacles on the way. In Bending Toward the Sun, Yazan Abu Salameh attempts to navigate barriers to freedom.

The sun dominates Abu Salameh’s artworks and appears in the backgrounds overlooking structures of concrete. The melancholy of the urban environment and the overwhelming presence of concrete as a byproduct of military occupation overshadows his artworks. He presents boxes packed with congested buildings with little white windows as a representation of the densely built-up environment in the Palestinian towns, that is restricted from natural expansion.

Although the sun is the light source and symbolizes freedom, its scorching heat is fatal. Abu Salameh uses bold orange colors across his works to present enormous suns. The huge orange orbs dominate his works. Some of these big circles are empty, while other circles contain figures or shapes yet the focal points of the artworks are these enormous suns.

Abu Salameh’s recent series of artworks is inspired by Ghassan Kanafani’s novel Men in the Sun. The series of works attempts to pound on the concrete walls as a legitimate cry for justice and to break out of the boxes of confinement.