Aïshti Foundation in Beirut Opens 'Flesh Flowers' with Over 70 Female Artists

The Aïshti Foundation in Beirut, founded by Tony and Elham Salamé, celebrates its tenth anniversary with the exhibition 'Flesh Flowers,' curated by Massimiliano Gioni and Roberta Tenconi. The show features over 200 works by more than 70 female artists from diverse generations and backgrounds, occupying three floors of the David Adjaye-designed building. The title references a work by Miriam Cahn depicting the titan arum, a flower that resembles rotting flesh. The exhibition explores tensions between abstraction and figuration, beauty and disgust, and includes works by Joan Semmel, Cecily Brown, Louise Bonnet, Jana Euler, Sasha Gordon, Christina Quarles, Julie Mehretu, Amy Sillman, Tauba Auerbach, Pamela Rosenkranz, Jacqueline Humphries, and Etel Adnan. Adnan's landscapes close the show, offering pacific escapes from Lebanon's tragic history. The foundation, which also houses luxury boutiques, spa, and restaurants, aims to promote contemporary art in Lebanon and the Eastern Mediterranean. The exhibition runs until October 2026.