Walid El Masri
Biography
The paintings of Lebanese artist Walid El Masri possess what one critic referred to as the "bravura and technique one rarely finds in the work of someone his age." Born in Beirut in 1979, he is a graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus and has participated in numerous group exhibitions and art fairs at home and abroad, including in Europe, Asia and the US. Solo exhibitions at the China International Gallery Expo and Art Hong Kong in 2009 and a featuring in Art Dubai in 2010, established his popularity among international collectors.
Considered a rising young talent of his generation, he has held solo shows in Damascus, Dubai and Paris and has been featured in a number of Ayyam Gallery's high profile events such as its competition for emerging artists in 2007, in addition to several Ayyam Auctions public sales. The recipient of numerous awards, he has won prizes at various workshops and contests in Syria.
In the artist’s canvases, experiments in palette and composition revolve around a relentless examination of a single material subject—a simple chair. Yet this inanimate object possesses a startling power, as it functions as a point of departure for greater investigations into the fundamental components of painting.
Like Morandi's vases or Cezanne's apples, El Masri's depictions are less about the objects themselves. What we find instead is an apparent resolve to reconfigure compositional properties, as he toys with depth and space, alluding to meditations on art and life and moments that are suspended in time—profound explorations that have attracted a large pool of art aficionados from across the region.
Artist Press
Deep Seated, Timeout Dubai November 2009Download PDF (510 K)
Carving Out a Future, Syria Today June 2008
Download PDF (38 K)
Intensity and Innovation, Canvas Guide May 2008
Download PDF (163 K)
Chairman of the Board, Canvas Guide February 2008
By Anneka Lenssen
Download PDF (196 K)
Artist Exhibitions
Walid El Masri Solo Exhibition, At Ayyam Gallery, Dubai 12 Nov - 31 Dec, 2009View Exhibition
Art Hong Kong 14 May - 17 , 2009
View Exhibition
Shabab Uprising 19 Feb - 19 Apr, 2009
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Walid EL-MASRI Solo Exhibition 7 Jun - 19 , 2008
View Exhibition
Artist Publications
Walid El MasriView Publication
Selected Works
WM99 Walid EL-MASRI 'Chairs' 120 X 120 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2008
WM123 Walid EL-MASRI ‘Chairs’ 120 X 120 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009
WM166 Walid EL-MASRI ‘Chairs’ 120 X 120 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2010