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Untitled (Landscape)
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Inspired from her ancestral roots in Southern Lebanon, the Arab revolutions and women rights, Soha Sabbagh feels that her work both reflects a part of broader society while expressing her own emotions. In “Untitled” the abstract landscape is painted with a passionate sensibility while the palette uses colors from local nature and geography.
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Untitled
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Drawing inspiration from her native Beirut, Zena Assi’s work portrays the socio-cultural aspects and intense emotions of contemporary urban society. She depicts figures and scenes using a flat spatial environment, angular outlines, rich colors and patterns that reference Egon Schiele, and Gustav Klimt. The vertical canvas of blossoming trees in “Untitled (trees)” has the flat perspective typical of Assi’s work while the color of the flowers reminds the viewer of the springtime cherry and almond trees in Lebanon.
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Jerusalem
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Well-known for comic illustrations and portrait paintings, Omar Khouri’s work touches on the complicated and layered psychology of the individual in society. In his current print series, he uses illustration and printmaking to create a portrait of each city. Using his style of portrait fragmentation which is based on traditional Islamic geometry, the breaks or lines can be seen as a reflection of the contradictions and cracks of fragility in each place. In “Jerusalem”, the viewer sees one of the iconic features of the city, the “Dome of the Rock.”
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Aleppo
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Well-known for comic illustrations and portrait paintings, Omar Khouri’s work touches on the complicated and layered psychology of the individual in society.
In his current print series, he uses illustration and printmaking to create a portrait of each city. Using his style of portrait fragmentation which is based on traditional Islamic geometry, the breaks or lines can be seen as a reflection of the contradictions and cracks of fragility in each place. In “Aleppo”, instead of featured monuments of the city, you see the destruction of the civil war.
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Untitled
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Starting in the mid-90s, Adnan Sharif was experimenting with different shapes and sizes of canvas, similar to the triangular top of “Untitled.” As a well-respected artist, "His paintings became famous after the mid-1970s in Beirut and Germany through the subject of Palestinian exile… When he arrived to Amman in the early nineties, his work had an expressive mix between jazz and color with a poetic uniqueness in abstract configurations and contributed to the enrichment of the artistic community” said artist Khalid Khreis.
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Untitled
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Integrating folktales and imagery from North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, Mohamed Abla has a unique talent for storytelling, while commenting on the social and political situations of the past and present. Aiming to engage his audiences, Abla feels that art is the key to bringing cultural and environmental awareness to people. In "Untitled," Abla narrates the story of the city with his bustling figures and urban architecture.
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ما المجد الا السيف
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The abstract work of Mazen Rifai is characterized by transparency and luminosity while capturing an interpretation of emotions. Instead of drawing the landscapes or representations of objects and places, Rifai paints sensations and memories associated with the subject. ما المجد الا السيف is a phrase taken from a famous poem by the 10th Century writer Al-Mutanabbi. The entirety of the sentence is translated as “Don’t think for a moment that glory is in a wine skin or a songstress, for glory resides in the sword and the decisive blow.’
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Ilk ya Baalbak
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Inspired by his hometown of Baalback, the abstract small-scaled work of Mazen Rifai is characterized by transparency and luminosity while capturing an interpretation of emotions.
Instead of depicting the landscapes or representations of objects and places, Rifai paints sensations and memories associated with his subjects. The ink on paper, “Ilk ya Baalbak” is a classic example of an homage to his ancestral land.
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Untitled
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Inspired by daily life and objects around her, Dodi Tabbaa’s paintings and monographs use color and line to illustrate her experiences and moods from excited to peaceful.
During the time period of “Untitled,” Tabbaa was living in the countryside and creating complex compositions between representation and abstraction. The works have a harmony and opposition in colors that are printed or painted on Japanese handmade paper that adds texture and richness to the piece.
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Qana tree
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The focus of Huda Naamani’s writing and painting varies from social, political to spiritual subject matter. Made for the Qana benefit exhibition, the “Qana Tree” was created around the same time as a large retrospective she had at UNESCO Beirut with similarly painted abstract works. In this painting, the central tree-like object reaches outward from the center growing or exploding with reds, oranges, and touches of green
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Paysage de la Bekaa
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Inspired by his hometown of Baalback, the work of Mazen Rifai is characterized by transparency and luminosity while capturing an interpretation of emotions.
This serene watercolor of the Bekea region is an homage to his ancestral land. Created from forms and colors from the valley, the viewer travels down the road passing the picturesque landscape and villages.
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Untitled (beach)
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Inspired from her ancestral roots in Southern Lebanon, the Arab revolutions and women rights, Soha Sabbagh feels that her work both reflects a part of broader society while expressing her own emotions. In this watercolor, the brushstrokes playfully render a beach scene using the sunlight as a reminder of summertime memories.
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Le rouge et le Bleu
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Influenced from her communist politician father and her mother’s strong character, Hala al-Faisal’s life and art has been imbued by leftist politics, women’s rights and her own determination. This painting, “Le rouge et le bleu”, depicts a dark and stormy landscape with a red sky, illuminated by groups of flowers - pockets of light in the storm. A unique rendering, this beautiful landscape is full of strong emotions and powerful colors in contrast with traditional landscapes.
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Unititled
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Known for capturing the Lebanese landscape through his paintings, Nizar Daher’s work evolved throughout his career from nudes to depicting the horrors of the Lebanese civil war and finally the romantic sceneries rendered in an abstract expressionism. Inspired by the intense colors from his native Bekaa valley, his landscapes, like in “untitled” capture the transitioning light at different times of the day.
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Orjowan
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Thru the various phases in her career, Jinan Khalil has painted in the warm colors of crimson and violet expressively depicting subjects such as figures and landscapes. The movement in the landscape of “Orjowan” shows the liveliness of nature with its brilliant dabs of color.
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Untitled
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Inspired by Western expressionism and effected by cultural and social issues around him, Rafic Charaf was sensitive to both the human struggle and issues within Lebanon. Throughout many phases in his career, he painted subjects such as the folk hero, landscapes and calligraphy. Many of his landscapes like “untitled” portrayed Lebanon, particularly the Bekaa valley, sometimes rendered bleakly.
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Untitled (Café Sketch)
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Drawing inspiration from his surroundings, Ibrahim Marzouk painted with a liveliness and vibrancy that celebrated Lebanon by depicting scenes of everyday life. Thru his unique personal lens, Marzouk created sketches with charcoal and pastels as well as watercolor and oil paintings. In this work, he portrays the buzz of café life in the souk. Sketching with a sense of movement, he captures a distinct moment in time.
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Untitled (Café Cat)
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Drawing inspiration from his surroundings, Ibrahim Marzouk painted with a liveliness and vibrancy that celebrated Lebanon by depicting scenes of everyday life. Thru his unique personal lens, Marzouk created sketches with charcoal and pastels as well as watercolor and oil paintings. In this work, he depicts a café in its quiet hours with a sleeping cat.
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We Love Peace
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Nizar Sabour is well-known for his abstractly rendered cityscapes and narrative scenes. Partly created from natural materials such as burnt olive pits, his minimal palette also gives a textural experience. Painted during his time in Moscow, “We Love Peace,” is a dream-like cityscape, with giant people depicted among floating symbols, perhaps commenting on regional Arab politics of the time.
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Untitled
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Working mainly in pencil, watercolor and oil, Onsi spent hours observing a subject before starting a rendering. He tried to remove "traces of himself as a rationalizing being and to react unselfconsciously with precise draughtsmanship, direct brushwork, and heightened sensitivity to optical effects." This work is a classic Onsi, a natural landscape with dynamic brushwork that gives the scene a sense of movement and energy.
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Untitled (Sunbather)
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Cremonini’s poetic summertime figures and landscapes appear both timeless and yet like a photo, taken at a distinct moment. The colors and brushstrokes blend the bodies and the landscape together and the unique light-filled compositions have a geometric quality to them. In this black and white print, the sunbather melts into her surroundings which were created with points and hash marks.
Limited Edition Print 10/200
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Sur le passé: la paix
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Classically trained Édouard Trémeau’s work is masterfully executed using dramatic lights and shadows. He took part in various collectives that denounced forms of political oppression and inequalities, traces of which can be found in his work, exuding anguish, solitude, confinement and ruin. In this work, the print is akin to a diptych with a man turned away, coupled with the touristic depiction of Baalbeck, Lebanon. The editioned print is titled “Sur le passé: la paix” (On the pass: peace) while in a retrospective exhibition publication, the same edition is called “Liban: paix retrouvee” (Lebanon: Peace Found).
Limited Edition Print 49/80
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Untitled
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Creating poetic atmospheres in his work, Oussama Baalbaki primarily paints Lebanese landscapes that vary from realistic expressionism to rhythmic impressionism. Emotion-filled in their vibrant colors and brushwork, the paintings can feel upbeat, bright, gloomy, isolated, romantic or somewhere in between.
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Untitled
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Creating poetic atmospheres in his work, Oussama Baalbaki primarily paints Lebanese landscapes that vary from realistic expressionism to rhythmic impressionism. Emotion-filled in their vibrant colors and brushwork, the paintings can feel upbeat, bright, gloomy, isolated, romantic or somewhere in between.
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The Eagle Spire
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Well-known for comic illustrations and portrait paintings, Omar Khouri’s work touches on the complicated and layered psychology of the individual in society. Inspired by sci-fi, this work is part of a series that depicts deep space with its dramatic events, as well as reflecting the dark part of the human mind.
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V838
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Well-known for comic illustrations and portrait paintings, Omar Khouri’s work touches on the complicated and layered psychology of the individual in society. Inspired by sci-fi, this work is part of a series that depicts deep space with its dramatic events, as well as reflecting the dark part of the human mind.
