City Nights 1983

Samia Halaby created 'City Nights', a 96.5 x 119 cm painting, with oil on linen. It’s a constellation of colors against the dark, a symphony of squares – mostly greys, blacks, and whites, but jolted with sparks of pure electric blue, sassy yellow, and vibrant red. Can you imagine Halaby at the easel, maybe standing, armed with brushes and knives, building up the surface, one deliberate stroke at a time? She’s probably layering and adjusting, shifting each block, in conversation with the others, until the whole picture finds its rhythm. There’s a real physical presence to this work. I imagine she had to consider how each dab of paint, thick or thin, rough or smooth, would change the tempo. Look at the way those bright colors just pop, as if illuminated. Halaby’s work explores abstraction through a deep understanding of color theory and geometric forms. She reminds us that painting is not just about representation, but also about feeling, about creating a space for seeing and thinking in new ways. We’re all just remixing the same old song, finding new ways to play it!