“We need pictures to create history, especially in the age of photography and cinema. But we also need imagination to re-see these images, and thus, to re-think histoy.”
— Georges Didi-Huberman
Steve Sabella
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Biography
Sabella’s work is held in the collections of the British Museum in London- England; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Ar-Rayyan- Qatar; Institut Du Monde Arab in Paris- France; Ars Aevi Museum of Contemporary Art in Sarajevo- Bosnia and Herzegovina; Dalloul Foundation in Beirut- Lebanon; Salsali Private Museum in Dubai- UAE; Bahrain National Museum in Manama- Bahrain; and Dar El-Nimer in Beirut- Lebanon.
In 2008, Sabella received the Ellen Auerbach Award from the Akademie der Künste in Berlin- Germany, leading to a comprehensive study on his photographic journey “Steve Sabella Photography 1997-2104”, published by Hatje Canta with texts by Prof. Hubertus von Amelunxen and a foreword by Kamal Boullata who described Sabella’s works as a “dream to discover.”
He also published numerous essays and writings on the art world, including his award winning memoir: The Parachute Paradox. In 2017, Sabella began publishing The Artist’s Curse, a series of epigrams, micro-narratives, tips and concise analyses of the art world as it looked till 2020
Sabella uses photography and photographic installation as his primary mode of expression. Musicality is a recurrent theme in his work as he constructs images based on variations of rhythm and tone. His work pushes photography to its limits, exploring image creation and the genealogy of the image. Sabella considers photography as a unique form of reality, capable of producing its own reality. In 2014, the International Center of Photography Scavi Scaligeri Museum in Verona held Sabella’s first retrospective exhibition “Archaeology of The Future”.
Sabella was born in Jerusalem- Palestine in 1975.Sabella has been based in Berlin- Germany since 2010.
Institutional Collectors
- The British Museum in London- UK
- Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Ar-Rayyan- Qatar
- Arab World Institute in Paris- France
- Ars Aevi Museum of Contemporary Art in Sarajevo- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bahrain National Museum in Manama- Bahrain
Awards
- 2009 the Saïd Foundation Scholarship, which partially sponsored his studies for an MA in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art
- 2008 The Chevening Scholarship for MA in Photographic Studies from University of Westminster
- 2008 the Caparo Award of Distinction for MA in Photographic Studies from University of Westminster
- 2008 the Independent Photographers Terry O’Neil Award
- 2008 the Ellen Auerbach Award – Akademie der Künste in Berlin
- 2002 Young Artist of the Year Award – A. M. Qattan Foundation in Palestine
Selected Exhibitions
- 2010 Metroquadro Gallery in Rivoli in Turin- Italy
- 2014 Fragments at Berloni Gallery in London- England
- 2014 Layers at Contemporary Art Platform in Kuwait
- 2014 Independence at Meem Gallery in Dubai- UAE
- 2014 Archaeology of the Future at the International Centre for Photography Scavi Scaligeri in Verona- Italy
- 2017 Fragments From Our Beautiful Future at The Bumiller Collection in Berlin- Germany
- (2008, curated by Martina Corgnati) Gates of the Mediterranean at the Castello di Rivoli in Rivoli- Italy
- (2015, curated by Gabriel Bauret) First Biennial of Photographers of the Contemporary Arab World at the Arab World Institute (IMA) and the Maison européenne de la photographie in Paris- France
- (2015, curated by Christine Macel) Nel Mezzo del Mezzo at the Palazzo Riso in Palermo- Italy
- (2014, curated by Karin Adrian von Roques) View From Inside at the FotoFest Biennial, Houston- USA
- (2013, curated by MASASAM) Keep Your Eye on the Wall at Les Rencontres d’Arles in Arles- France
Publications
Parachute Paradox, published in September 2016