Ayyam
Gallery
Omran
Younes
180 x 250 cm. Mixed Media on canvas 2009 by Omran
Younes
Solo
Exhibition at Ayyam Gallery, Beirut, the Exhibition
will run till 25.03.2010
From
February 4 to March 25, Ayyam Gallery Beirut will
proudly present the solo exhibition of Omran Younes.
Featuring a new body of the artist's work, the show
will highlight the continual progression of one
of Syria's most exciting painters.
As
a member of a generation of artists that emerged
from the influential school of Syrian modernism,
Younes has sought to further contemporary aesthetics
while building on the practices of his predecessors.
This has often meant the capturing of the world
around him with bold social commentary and an acute
sense of observation through new varieties of painting.
He frequently works within a specific theme, with
each series dedicated to particular experiments
in subject matter and technique.
His
current series stands as a new (and distinct) chapter
of his oeuvre, as the paintings display a fresh
palette, different subject matter and a more intimate
investigation of human relationships. For the artist,
"Each series has its own set of colors. And
each subject obliges one to employ various hues…This
collection of paintings is based on photo portraits
that were taken before the use of color technology,
it indicates a sense of loneliness and nostalgia—a
longing for memories, to moments of the past."
Oversized
portraits with exaggerated figures characterize
Younes' resurrecting of this past. A minimal palette
of white, black, grey, brown and pink tones gives
a pensive mood to his subjects. Their large heads
dominate canvases, and although there is a monumental
feel to the works, the viewer is drawn into the
composition through the subtle ways in which Younes
applies layers of various mediums, creating dimension
with washes of color and scumbled paint. This intensive
method of depicting their forms provides a near
sculpted look to his male and female subjects, emphasizing
the impact of their memories on the artist, and
giving way to the ways in which the mind reconfigures
what is lost or distant.
Born in Al-Hasakah in 1971, Younes has been active
in the local art scene since the late 1990s. He
graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus
in 1998 and went on to obtain a Masters degree in
Fine Arts in 2000. Having exhibited throughout the
Middle East, his work has received critical acclaim
at home and abroad. Most recently he has exhibited
at Ayyam's Dubai and Damascus locations and in Doha
at the Virginia Common Wealth University gallery
among the ranks of such prominent Arab artists as
Dia Azzawi, Mona Hatoum and Youssef Nabil. Today
his work is collected as a staple of contemporary
Syrian art, recognized for his commanding approach
to depicting his subjects—one marked by labored
explorations and careful execution—and a noticeable
pursuit of elevating his art to its highest form.
Ayyam Gallery Beirut - Beirut Tower, Ground Floor,
Zeitoune Street
Across from Beirut Marina / Solidere Beirut, Lebanon
T: +961 1 374450/51 / F: +961 1 374449
beirut@ayyamgallery.com - http://www.ayyamgallery.com
