Zeinab Saleh: The space {between}

David Zwirner is pleased to present new paintings and works on paper by British artist Zeinab Saleh (b. 1996), on view in The Upper Room at David Zwirner London. In her tranquil, semi-abstract depictions of scenes from the domestic world, Saleh refigures objects and places from her personal life – such as embroidered linens, sleeping pets, and richly patterned prayer mats – into evocative and enigmatic compositions that are suffused with nostalgic stillness yet infinitely open ended in their emotive potential. The artist builds up her paintings through an organic process of experimentation in which delicate brushwork, as well as imprints from crumpled fabric and plant cuttings, are layered atop aqueous washes of hazy acrylic paint. Rendered in a distinctive palette of misty, ghostlike whites and pastel blue-green tones, Saleh’s works combine familiar images of comfort and intimacy with subtle elements of subversion and unease. Her fragmented narratives of domestic existence reveal themselves only gradually, unfolding and floating up to the brink of perception in a process that mirrors the fluidity of human memory. Earlier in 2024, a solo exhibition of Saleh’s work was on view at Tate Britain, London, as part of the museum’s Art Now series. The artist’s first solo show, Softest place (on earth), was on view at Camden Arts Centre, London, in 2021.