An Article by D. M. (609 words, 3 min. read)
A World That Hums Between Realities
At D-Space, behind the doors of Art Form’s latest curatorial vision, Antoine Fadel’s exhibition Almost Real: Echoes of the In-Between opened on May 29 with a disarming intimacy. These are not simply photographs; they are living fragments, resonant gestures, and mischievous meditations on the self. Each image glimmers with possibility, inviting viewers into a dream-state where beauty is not merely observed but felt deeply, like a hum in the bones.
Portraits That Play and Pulse
In the main room, the viewer is welcomed into a playful theater of color and texture. Women fill the frames, not as muses to be gazed upon, but as co-authors of the image. Fadel’s portraits are brimming with emotion, imagination, and wit. In this world, fruits and vegetables are not props but performers: carrots become curlers, red peppers a symbol, a banana a telephone. Titles play with language, inviting laughter and reflection in equal measure. There is a deep sense of care in every shot, a warmth that transforms fashion into storytelling and the familiar into something fabulously unexpected.
The use of space is not incidental here. It shapes each photograph, framing the subjects like visual poetry. Light does not merely illuminate; it whispers. Shadows do not obscure; they complicate. Within this orchestrated chaos of glamour and fun, Fadel constructs portraits that are layered in feeling. These are women who speak, even in silence.
Behind the Curtain: The Whisper of Skin and Shadow
Step beyond the veil—literally—and the mood shifts. A hidden room, curtained and quiet, reveals the second movement of the exhibition: a series of black-and-white nude photographs that are at once raw and refined. Here, Fadel moves from play to poetry, from vibrant storytelling to an almost monastic meditation on form, texture, and presence.
The grain of the photograph becomes skin itself, soft and tactile. The use of shadow and light is masterful: nothing is explicit, yet everything is deeply felt. Eroticism here is not spectacle, but emotion distilled. It is about elegance, the quiet thunder of intimacy, and the subtle curve of vulnerability. In this sacred space, Fadel allows the viewer to linger in stillness, in longing, in the unspeakable.
The In-Between as Invitation
What binds these two rooms, two moods, is a singular vision: Antoine Fadel’s belief in the power of the in-between. Between light and shadow, laughter and silence, surface and soul, he crafts photographs that are not easy to categorize. They do not tell one story, but many, all unfolding at once. There is joy here, and melancholy. There is seduction, and safety. There is mystery, but never confusion.
Fadel’s work asks the viewer to pause, to feel, and perhaps most importantly, to listen to the colors, the contours, and the quiet voices speaking just beneath the surface. Almost Real reminds us that art is not always about clarity. Sometimes it’s about presence. And sometimes, it is in the echo (in the breath between images) that we find the most truth.
A Voice Both Personal and Expansive
Antoine Fadel, with his background in filmmaking and fashion, has long known how to create images that hold attention. But in this exhibition, he does more. He creates a language of sensation, a choreography of color and grain. Whether he’s playing with humor and metaphor or composing tender meditations on the human body, Fadel gives us women who are vivid forces, not just subjects.
His manifesto says it best: beauty is not bound by logic, it is revealed through resonance. And with Almost Real, that resonance lingers long after the gallery lights dim.
