Tammam Azzam
Biography
Born in Damascus in 1980, Tammam Azzam is one of Syria's rising young talents. A graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts with a concentration in oil painting, he has exhibited with some of the country's leading art spaces, including Atassi gallery and the French Culture Centre. Striving to further his artistic practice, Azzam obtained a Fine Arts Certificate from Darat al Funun's esteemed artist workshop program Al Kharif Academy under Syrian master Marwan Kassab Bashi in 2001. Since being selected for "Shabab Ayyam" project in 2008, he has been featured in several significant events including the group show "Stories from the Levant," Scope Art Fair (Basel) 2009 and Art Miami 2010. As such, he has established an impressive fan base that includes collectors from all over the world.
Azzam's style of painting is one that focuses on the tactical application of media—how a variety of components can be employed to create depth, texture and space, achieving a striking balance between the ordinary objects that he portrays and the grand terrain that he evokes. Often times a chair or clothes line with actual pins is depicted with quick brushwork so that his compositions are infused with a playful yet enigmatic narrative. Yet in the same regard these inanimate items work to emphasize the vigor of the space around them, as the remainder of the composition is usually rendered with vivacious strokes and bold markings that imply a sense of movement and energy.
As though suspended in time, his subjects compliment the abstract expressionist details that form them. Recalling the blunt lines, spectacular peaks and vivid sensations found in nature, the artist's imposing canvases are partly inspired by the rugged volcanic landscape of his native Suwieda in southern Syria, as though contrasting manmade elements with those that form organically.
Artist Press
The Colours of the Earth April 2008Download PDF (0.8 MB)
Artist Exhibitions
Tammam Azzam - Metallica, Ayyam Gallery, Damascus 26 Jun - 5 Aug, 2010View Exhibition
Basel (SCOPE) 8 Jun - 14 , 2009
View Exhibition
Stories From the Levant, Tammam Azzam, Samia Halaby, Nadim Karam 22 Jan - 14 Feb, 2009
View Exhibition
Selected Works
TA37 Tammam AZZAM 'Laundry Series' 162 X 162 cm. Mixed Media & Cloth Pegs on Canvas 2008 LOCATION: DUBAI
TA36 Tammam AZZAM 'Laundry Series' 162 X 162 cm. Mixed Media & Cloth Pegs on Canvas 2008 LOCATION: DUBAI
TA51 Tammam AZZAM 'Laundry Series' 162 X 162 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2010 LOCATION: DAMASCUS
TA54 Tammam AZZAM 'Horizons' 180 X 480 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2008 LOCATION: DAMASCUS