X-croissances

The LT Gallery in Mar Mikhael, Beirut, presents "X-croissances", Taher Jaoui's solo exhibition, from 15 to 31 October 2026. It opens on Thursday 15 October, 6pm to 9pm. Jaoui's practice has centred on dense, layered abstract painting. The gallery presents this show as the first time his work moves beyond the canvas, and its images show thick clusters of coloured yarn rising from painted surfaces.

On the invitation, close-up tufts of red, orange and white yarn crowd the foreground against a blurred band of blue, purple and green. A video still posted on the opening day shows rounded patches of looped yarn in purple, turquoise, orange, black and white. They sit among loose loops and strokes of blue, red, green and white paint on canvas. The gallery speaks of a change in his visual language, with colour, gesture and texture pushed further. It has not published titles, sizes or a list of works, and promises visitors a surprise at the gallery.

The paintings behind this turn are large, labour-intensive canvases that his galleries describe as carrying on the abstract expressionism of the 1950s and 1960s. He builds them from oil, enamel, spray paint and charcoal, with circles, boxes, skull-like shapes and passages that look like chalkboard scribble. Mathematical signs and formulas recur, a trace of his studies in computer science and engineering. His galleries cite graffiti, glitch art, the COBRA movement and African art as influences, and he likens painting to a dance with a familiar partner. He has also made sculpture, including the bronze edition "Mutants I" from 2022, and has used 3D printing to remake a painting as a sculpture.

Jaoui was born in Tunis in 1978 and has no formal art training. Since 2018 he has held solo shows in Tunis, Berlin, Johannesburg, Seoul, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Doha. In Beirut he took part in "Dystopia" at Banzy Gallery in 2019 and showed at Opera Gallery in 2025. The LT Gallery gave him a solo show in 2022. His work is in the Dubai Collection. On 29 October the gallery joins Around the Block, an art and design walk through Mar Mikhael, and launches the furniture brand "Plop Factory: Let's Play" alongside the exhibition. Visiting hours are Monday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm.