Syrian Art
Syrian Art
It is unusual to gather all these artists from different generations in one exhibition due to their differences. Gathering all these paintings under one roof means we are heading to an exquisite event. This exhibition is worthy of the history of these great painters, who did not stop experimenting with their art to tell a story about what happened in Syria.
They did not give up. Instead, great creators ventured again in search of a new language, which spotlights the aftermath of the war.
Contemplating Syrian art over the past few years, one can see fear, demolished homes, and emptiness. They have managed to expand the spectrum of experimentation and bring different generations of artists for the first time to work on the same subject, yet in different ways. Some of these artists live in the country, while others have left forcibly or living voluntarily in exile.
The rapprochement between the different experiences is a turning point and has become vital. For Syrian art, it is imperative to bring them closer because of the lack of marketing, governed by deteriorating economic conditions for all Syrians.
From the figures of Sarab Al-Safadi, entangled with the details of daily life and its exquisite colours. The calmness and deep language of Reem Tarraf, who paints cherries on a plate, as if she paints human remains.
Omran Younis has been offering new aesthetic proposals about a world intertwined with people and places wandering and lost. The faces of the characters of artist Issam Darwich have turned in the past ten years to the inner worlds of characters, trying to draw the extent of unlimited human pain.
Edward Shahda’s characters were on display at the Kamel Gallery in Damascus, a large group of magnificent murals. Here he participates in two paintings about lonely people living in complete isolation, and his art has strong and clear lines. The prominent artist Abdullah Murad is always experimenting, especially during the past ten years.
Ghassan Al-Nana, part of the famous Homs Trio, worked with each other and are known by the art scene as friends whose products never cease to astonish. In this exhibition, Ghassan Nana showcases an intriguing set of black and white portraits, as if they were a group of wanted or missing persons or a collective obituary for people who were here a while ago but are now gone.
Ali Mokawas' paintings take us to his contemplative world again with his calm colours that examine our fates as people living in a place burdened with mystery. Nizar Sabour reminds us of displacement and migration, uprooting the roots from their foundation to turn into a group of human beings suspended in space as incomplete beings whose place turns into dust, as in his painting presented in "Cities of Dead Birds".
Samer Ismail remains in his new experience of discovering a new visual language that brings him closer to abstraction.
Fouad Dahdouh’s work painted an incomplete world, incomplete in stark colours as if it's mocking us all. The renowned painter Youssef Abdelke reformulates his world with bullets, empty skulls and shells and abandoned shoes and items. We live deserted, alone in a world that has no mercy on us.
Khaled Khalifa
A Syrian novelist, screenwriter and artist.
2022
It is unusual to gather all these artists from different generations in one exhibition due to their differences. Gathering all these paintings under one roof means we are heading to an exquisite event. This exhibition is worthy of the history of these great painters, who did not stop experimenting with their art to tell a story about what happened in Syria.
They did not give up. Instead, great creators ventured again in search of a new language, which spotlights the aftermath of the war.
Contemplating Syrian art over the past few years, one can see fear, demolished homes, and emptiness. They have managed to expand the spectrum of experimentation and bring different generations of artists for the first time to work on the same subject, yet in different ways. Some of these artists live in the country, while others have left forcibly or living voluntarily in exile.
The rapprochement between the different experiences is a turning point and has become vital. For Syrian art, it is imperative to bring them closer because of the lack of marketing, governed by deteriorating economic conditions for all Syrians.
From the figures of Sarab Al-Safadi, entangled with the details of daily life and its exquisite colours. The calmness and deep language of Reem Tarraf, who paints cherries on a plate, as if she paints human remains.
Omran Younis has been offering new aesthetic proposals about a world intertwined with people and places wandering and lost. The faces of the characters of artist Issam Darwich have turned in the past ten years to the inner worlds of characters, trying to draw the extent of unlimited human pain.
Edward Shahda’s characters were on display at the Kamel Gallery in Damascus, a large group of magnificent murals. Here he participates in two paintings about lonely people living in complete isolation, and his art has strong and clear lines. The prominent artist Abdullah Murad is always experimenting, especially during the past ten years.
Ghassan Al-Nana, part of the famous Homs Trio, worked with each other and are known by the art scene as friends whose products never cease to astonish. In this exhibition, Ghassan Nana showcases an intriguing set of black and white portraits, as if they were a group of wanted or missing persons or a collective obituary for people who were here a while ago but are now gone.
Ali Mokawas' paintings take us to his contemplative world again with his calm colours that examine our fates as people living in a place burdened with mystery. Nizar Sabour reminds us of displacement and migration, uprooting the roots from their foundation to turn into a group of human beings suspended in space as incomplete beings whose place turns into dust, as in his painting presented in "Cities of Dead Birds".
Samer Ismail remains in his new experience of discovering a new visual language that brings him closer to abstraction.
Fouad Dahdouh’s work painted an incomplete world, incomplete in stark colours as if it's mocking us all. The renowned painter Youssef Abdelke reformulates his world with bullets, empty skulls and shells and abandoned shoes and items. We live deserted, alone in a world that has no mercy on us.
Khaled Khalifa
A Syrian novelist, screenwriter and artist.
2022
