Bahram Hajo was born in Syria in 1952. He studied at the Fine Arts
Academy in Dusseldorf Germany and in 1984 graduated from the
Kunstakademie Münster.
Syria
Gylan Safadi was born in Al-Sweida, Syria in 1977 and studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Damascus. Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, Safadi has shifted from his usual use of vivid colors to painting tonal works in black and white that are inspired by his memories of life prior to the instability and destruction afflicting his country.
Born in Aleppo in 1972, self-taught artist Nihad Al Turk’s work focuses on the existential crisis of the individual caught up in power struggles between good and evil. Based in Beirut, Al Turk situates his work against a backdrop of literature and philosophy, painting a recurrent cast of mythical demons, outcasts, and antiheroes.
Alaa Sharabi was born in Damascus in 1988 and studied printmaking at the University of Damascus where he was later appointed as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts. His bold paintings combine rich palettes with frenetic lines and complex compositions.
Houman Al Sayed is best known for his large-scale paintings that depict alienated, shock-ridden subjects, whose disproportionately sized, swollen faces attest to their confusion and isolation. As his subjects float above densely populated cities–undefined, but characteristic of many Middle Eastern cities– they appear helpless.
Born in Hama in 1952, Edward Shahda studied at the Suhail Ahdab Center in Hama and the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Damascus, before undertaking a residency at the Anatoli Klankov Atelier in Russia.
Ismail Al Rifai was born in Mayadin in 1967 and studied Fine Art at the University of Damascus. Al Rifai has served as a member of the Syrian Fine Arts Syndicate as well as the UAE Fine Arts Society and currently works as a researcher in the Department of Culture and Information in Sharjah.
Dubai-based painter Mohannad Orabi was born in Damascus in 1977 and graduated from the Faculty of Fine Art in Damascus in 2000.
Born in Homs in 1953, Ghassan Nana studied at the Fine Arts Center in Homs and the University of Damascus. His luminous, delicate oil paintings are executed in a classical impressionist style, capturing soothing pastoral scenes that possess a haunting and ethereal quality.
Born in Homs in 1977, Mouteea Murad studied Fine Arts at the University of Damascus. His works are inspired by traditional Islamic art in which spirituality and formalism are unified in geometric form.