Visual Artists To Know: Beirut Edition

Ali Cherri:

Ali Cherri, Paysages Tremblants (Algiers), Lithograph, 40×60 cm, 2014 (www.artsy.ne)

Filmmaker and installation artist, Ali Cherri, was born in Lebanon in 1976 and later resided in France. Known for his focus on issues related to heritage, archaeology, and conservation. He also sheds light on the political  and geological problems surrounding him, through his artwork. Depicting all these themes through the mediums of film and objects he collects. Ali graduated from the American University in Beirut, receiving his BA in graphic design and later an MA in performing arts. His works have been exhibited in museums, galleries, and film festivals throughout Europe, Asia, and North America.  

Lamia Joreige:

Lamia Joreige, Corps Etranges – Serie 1 (n°1-18), wax/ pastels/ pencil on paper, 40 x 34 cm, 1999 (www.lamiajoreige.com)

Lamia was born in 1972, and has a BFA in Painting and Filmmaking, she is both a visual artist and filmmaker. She reflects on the historical narratives of her county through her representation of Lebanese wars and their aftermath, particularly those in Beirut. Lamia addresses these narratives even further through writing, directing and producing work varying from short videos to multimedia installations and documentaries as well. Her work has been displayed in various notable global institutions. Now a co-founder and co-director of the Beirut Art Center, a non-profit space dedicated to contemporary art. She also helped organize Museum as Hub: Beirut Art Center at New York City’s New Museum.

Mounira Al Solh:

Mounira Solh, two drawings from “ I Strongly Believe in Our Right to Be Frivolous, ink/graphite/marker/paint on paper, 30 x 21 cm each, 2012-17 (/www.thecut.com)

Born in 1975, growing up during the Lebanese civil war, the artist welcomed Syrians seeking refugee in Beirut. Inviting many refugees to her studio sparked her work of portraits and documentation of their stories and conversations. Drawing allowed her to capture the stories lived by the people along with the expressions in their eyes and faces. The portrait drawings follow the artist as she connects to local communities in the cities she visits. The visual artist studied painting and Fine Arts in Lebanon and Amsterdam. She embraces every art form from video installations, painting, and drawing to embroidery, and performative gestures. Al Solh has had solo exhibitions internationally and started a NOA Magazine.

Fouad Elkoury:

Fouad Elkoury, Kuchuk Hanem, ink-jet print on Baryta paper, 1990 (www.artnews.com)

The prominent Lebanese photographer, filmmaker, and writer was born in 1952. Starting off as an architect, then becoming a photojournalist shortly after, his photographs have documented political conflict and disruption. Heavily inspired by his time spent at home in Lebanon, as well as other Middle Eastern countries. Elkoury documents his daily life in Lebanon in photographs, videos and installation works where he intertwines both reality and surrealism . He took part in numerous group exhibitions and held solo shows in Munich, Geneva, Paris, Dubai, Beirut and Tokyo. In 1984  he co founded the Arab Image Foundation in hopes to preserve photographs of the country’s history. Later created the Beirut-based version of the Arab Image Foundation in 1997.

Walid Sadek:

Nidaa Badwan, 100 Days of Solitude, photograph, 60x104cm, 2013 (www.artsy.net)

Born in 1966, the artist/author is known for his portrayals of the lingering remains of the Lebanese civil war. In his later projects, Sadek confronts the realities of life and evokes on post war society in Lebanon. He received a BFA in Painting and Drawing in 1990 and an MFA in Sculpture in 1992. Fifteen years into his career he finally displayed his work in gallery and museum exhibitions, including at the Beirut Art Center and at the Mumbai Art Room. Now an associate professor at the Department of Fine Arts and Art History of the American University of Beirut.

Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige:

Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Wonder Beirut: Part 1, Photographic print with face-mounting, 70 x 105 cm, 1997 (www.ibraaz.org)

Both born in 1969, the duo are film directors, screenwriters and producers, and some of the biggest names in Lebanese film. Known for their frequent collaborations as spouses, with visual works, installations, and films. They draw on their personal experience of their country while trying to push a bit past its boundaries. They explore geographical and personal territory to reveal the effects of war. Several of the films and installations involve the participation of the viewer, as an attempt to stimulate a desire to think, feel, and move the audience. Also inviting them to develop a relationship with the image and opinions on the present day world and contemporary issues surrounding the images. They’ve earned the Don Quixote Award and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2005. Most recently selected as jurors for the Cinéfondation and short films sections of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

Etel Adnan:

Etel Adnan installation view

The philosophy major, Etel Adnan, was born in 1925 and didn’t shift her focus to creative expression until later in life.  The poet/visual artist was mostly known for her revolutionary writings throughout her lifetime, whereas her painting career didn’t take off until her eighties. In the face of the constant violence in the news, Adnan created peaceful and harmonious landscapes in despite of it all. The abstract artist was known for her use of oil paint with a palette knife and later fused in calligraphy. She was vigorously inspired by early Hurufiyya artists who shared the rejection Western aesthetics. Instead she embraced modernity with an integration of traditional culture and techniques.  She’s received a handful of awards throughout her career for both her literary and visual works.

Rabih Mroué:

Rabih Mroué, Black Box I-X, collage on paper, LED-Light, sound, headphones, wooden box, 34 x 34 x 22 cm, 2006 (www.sfeir-semler.com/)

Rabih Mroué, a visual artist, director, playwright, and actor, was born in Beirut in 1967.  The artist dealt with his country’s troubled history through his works of installations and performances. Graduating in theater in 1989, being one of first to immerse into avant-garde territory in order to provoke the thoughts of his viewers. Throughout the years, Mroué has become acclaimed on the world stage for being deemed to have started a creative rebellion. Not being afraid of integrating controversial subjects into his work, has put his art through series of censorship and domestic bans. He was awarded the Spalding Gray Award in 2010 and now a current board member of the Beirut Art Center.

Huguette Caland:

Huguette Caland, Untitled, oil on linen, 90 x 129 cm, 1970 (huguettecaland.com)

The Painter, sculptor, and fashion designer was born in 1931 into the first presidential family of postcolonial Lebanon. Caland started off sculpting abstract anatomical bodyscapes she is known for her erotic work and focus on female sexuality. Later went on to create new textile inspired structures. Her works are made up of delicate intricate lines influenced by cultural Lebennes rugs found in her childhood home. Within her work lies her thirst for freedom and lust for life portrayed through her use of radiant color. Taking part in private and public collections, her work is found across the Middle East, USA, and Europe.

Seta Manoukian:

Seta Manoukian, Untitled, acrylic and sand on board, 220 x 121 cm, 1975 (www.askart.com)

Born in 1945, Seta Manoukian was a painter and volunteer, who taught children in devastated areas how to draw and paint during the Lebanese civil war. She put together the children’s paintings and drawings, turning them into powerful testimonies depicting the atrocities of war. Her paintings consisted of realistic portraits of the citizens of Beirut during a period of destruction. Manoukian’s later works represent her journey back to life after fleeing 10 years of war. Her search for transcendence since such an early age and the immense effect war had on her, both led her to the path she found as a Buddhist monk. She’s taken part in dozens of exhibitions around the Middle East and the US.