Asaad Arabi
Biography
Born in Damascus in 1941, Asaad Arabi is one of Syria's most established artists. Recognized as a leading contemporary Arab painter since the 1980s, his works have been featured in countless venues throughout the region and abroad and are housed in several prestigious collections such as the Arab World Institute in Paris, the Barcelona Contemporary Museum of Art and South Korea's Museum in Seoul. His most recent exhibitions include a handful of well-received solo and group shows with Ayyam to which he has contributed a variety of canvases and has demonstrated an impressive range of painting.
A graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus, Arabi went on to receive a diploma in painting from the Higher Institute of Fine Arts in Paris in 1983 and later earned a PhD in aesthetics from the distinguished Sorbonne University in 1987. He has been residing in France since 1975 where he has undertaken extensive art research and has penned a significant collection of art writings in both French and Arabic. As such, he is also widely revered as a prominent aesthetic theorist.
Beginning his career at the end of Syria's modernist period, his paintings span decades of art and include numerous styles. Although he began depicting the old streets of Damascus with an acute sense of realism, this quickly gave way to figurative portrayals that relied heavily on elements of Cubism and abstraction. From a method of painting that delved into the realm of geometric abstraction to the vibrant form of Expressionism that characterizes his canvases today, Arabi's work has successfully traversed multiple international developments in art.
Artist Press
Representer le nu dans le monde arabeDownload PDF (351 K)
HighArt Interview, Aishti Magazine
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Celebrates One Year Anniversary with Asaad Arabi, What's On December 2007
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Artist Exhibitions
Asaad Arabi "Masked Bodies", Ayyam Gallery, Beirut 10 Dec, 2009 - 22 Jan, 2010View Exhibition
Visual Dialogue 7 Mar - 25 , 2009
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Black vs Colour 16 Oct - 30 Nov, 2008
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Asaad Arabi Solo Exhibition 11 Nov - 29 , 2007
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Artist Publications
Visual Dialogue, Asaad ARABI & Othman MOUSSAView Publication
Asaad Arabi
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Asaad Arabi, "Masked Bodies" 2009
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Selected Works
AA136 Asaad ARABI 'Les Jumeaux' 150 X 150 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 LOCATION: BEIRUT
AA138 Asaad ARABI 'Le Vol a l'Envers' 180 X 180 cm. Acrylic on Canvas 2009 LOCATION: BEIRUT
AA135 Asaad ARABI 'Le Noir et le Blanc' 180 X 120 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 LOCATION: Damascus
AA99 Asaad ARABI 'Personal Objects' 150 X 150 cm. Acrylic on Canvas 2008. LOCATION: BEIRUT
AA90 Asaad ARABI 'Interior Landscape' 97 X 130 cm. Acrylic on Canvas 2008. LOCATION: DAMASCUS
AA94 Asaad ARABI 'Red Watermelon' 150 X 150 cm. Acrylic on Canvas 2008. LOCATION: BEIRUT
AA68 Asaad ARABI 'Memories of the Sixties' 150 X 150 cm. Acrylic on Canvas 2007 LOCATION: DUBAI
AA65 Asaad ARABI 'Ducks Hunting' 150 X 150 cm. Acrylic on Canvas 2007 LOCATION: DUBAI
AA48 Asaad ARABI 'Daily Despute' 144 X 72 cm. Acrylic on Canvas 2007 LOCATION: DUBAI
AA77 Asaad ARABI 'The Unique Apple' 120 X 120 cm. Acrylic on Canvas 2008 LOCATION: DUBAI