Ammar Al Beik

Biography

Born in Damascus, Syria in 1972, Ammar Al Beik’s artistic career stems from unconventional roots. After leaving the University of Damascus, where he was pursuing a degree in business administration, his love for photography intensified while working at a camera repair shop. It is there that he received his formal training in the medium over the course of ten years, exploring various methods and approaches while becoming an expert in photographic equipment. As such, he has exhibited his photographs since the mid 1990s, at a time when he simultaneously began an impressive career in filmmaking. Taking his cinematic works to the international stage, he has earned critical acclaim from audiences and juries across the global and has received a number of distinctions. Having participated in screenings worldwide since 1999, his films have been featured in such events as the Venice and San Paulo International Film Festivals. His invitation to the 63rd Annual Venice Film Festival in 2006, where he received the award for best documentary, was a first in the history of Syrian cinema. In just a little over a decade he has become one of country’s leading filmmakers.

Never abandoning his original interest, he has continued to work in photography despite the success that he has found in cinema. Equally accomplished in both genres, his photographs have been shown in venues throughout the Middle East, Europe and the US. Since joining Ayyam gallery in 2007, Al Beik has participated in solo and group exhibitions and throughout the Middle East and the US.

As a result of his artistic range and background, Al Beik’s photographs possess a cinematic quality that can only be found amidst the portfolio of a seasoned image-maker. Forever embracing experimentation, he works with an assortment of techniques. Often materializing in the form of large ultra chrome prints on canvas, his photographs toy with the manipulation of light and contrast and delve into the art of visual storytelling, holding the narrative of his subjects up with careful scrutiny and heightened sensitivity. Recently he has begun utilizing conceptual art and installation in overtly political works that incorporate elements of video, sculpture and animation. In 2011, he returned to the Venice Film Festival with the short film “The Sun’s Incubator,” a work that explores the domestic effects of the “Arab Spring.”

Download PDF (39 K)

Artist Press

Ammar Al Beik Politics Displayed, Selections Magazine

Download PDF (527 K)

Ammar Al Beik 'A new trend in collage art', Forward Magazine

Download PDF (2.4 MB)

The Enigmatic Narratives of Ammar Al Beik, The Daily Star

Download PDF (93 K)

Ammar Al-Beik, Under The Shadow of the Idea  April 2008

Download PDF (20 K)

Ammar Al-Beik "Frame by Frame", Canvas Magazine  May 2008

Download PDF (180 K)

Ammar Al-Beik, Behind the Success Story of 'they were here'  April 2008

Download PDF (218 K)

Artist Exhibitions

Ammar Al-Beik - A New Installation, Ayyam Gallery, Damascus  26 Jun - 5 Aug, 2010
View Exhibition

Basel (SCOPE)  8 Jun - 14 , 2009
View Exhibition

Shabab Uprising  19 Feb - 19 Apr, 2009
View Exhibition

Black vs Colour  16 Oct - 30 Nov, 2008
View Exhibition

Ammar AL-BEIK, Solo-Exhibition  1 May - 19 , 2008
View Exhibition

Artist Publications

Ammar Al Beik
View Publication

Ayyam Editions

Ammar Al-Beik
View Edition

Selected Works

AB39 Ammar al Beik 'Eid Mubarak 2011' 100 X 200 cm. Lightbox 2011

AB38 Ammar al Beik 'Lollipop Series' 105 X 105 cm. Mixed Media on Shredded Canvas April-May 2011

ABI4(1) Ammar Al-Beik 'Oil Leaks - Trickyleaks' 190 X 140 X 60 cm. 2011