Mouteea Murad
Biography
Born in Homs, Syria in 1977, Mouteea Murad is a rising young artist whose recent explorations into abstraction have set him apart within the contemporary Syrian art scene. A graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts where he was initially interested in drawing, his earlier works were monotone portraits that spoke of human angst. Despite exhibitions throughout the Arab world and successful sales from such compositions, Murad dramatically changed his artistic direction shortly before entering the "Shabab Ayyam" competition in 2007. Since then he has been building upon a foundation that engages influential modernist movements such as the Russian Constructivists, Abstract Expressionism and Geometric Abstraction. He has also sought to interact with aesthetics that have held immense significance to Arab art, as he is an admirer of the late Syrian painter Mustapha Fathi and the influence of Palestinian painter Samia Halaby can be found in many of his works. Carving out a significant place for himself amongst these regional greats, Murad is becoming a favorite among international art lovers with his paintings housed in collections in Lebanon, Jordan, France, Switzerland, the US and China.
The artist's vibrant canvases are informed by the linear and horizontal division of spatial planes, as various geometric shapes emerge from elaborate partitions. Pulsating with vivid cubist forms, each line is vastly different from the next. Yet Murad is confident in his bold sense of design and clever manipulation of color. The result is a geometric mosaic in which squares, triangles and circles intersect, overlap and collapse upon each other, recalling the abstract ingenuity of American painter Stuart Davis with the youthful spirit and vitality of Swiss painter Paul Klee.
Artist Press
Mouttea MURAD "Wandering Inward", Timeout Magazine Dubai Augsut 2009Download PDF (1 MB)
Mouttea MURAD "Towards the Light", Canvas Magazine
Download PDF (196 K)
Artist Exhibitions
Shabab Uprising 19 Feb - 19 Apr, 2009View Exhibition
Ayyam Summer Festival 2007 9 Jun - 13 Sep, 2007
View Exhibition
Ayyam Editions
Mouteea MuradView Edition
Selected Works
MM33 Mouteea MURAD UNTITLED 155x155cm Acrylic on Canvas 2008 LOCATION: DUBAI
MM58 Mouteea MURAD 'Trial No.10' 180 X 180 cm. Acrylic on Canvas 2009 LOCATION: DAMASCUS
MM27 Mouteea MURAD 'Paper Airplane' 120 X 240 cm. Acrylic on Canvas 2008 LOCATION: DAMASCUS
MM64 Mouteea MURAD 'Trial No.16; The Horizontal Scale' 150 X 180 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 LOCATION: DAMASCUS