Ayyam Gallery is proud to present Inside Out '25 an exhibition featuring Elias Izoli’s most recent body of work. After a long hiatus from painting, Izoli returns with a new body of work centered around the circus of life.
About the exhibition
A childhood fascination evolved into a profound reflection on the unpredictability and complexity of life as a Syrian citizen. In his latest series, Izoli uses the circus as a metaphor: its performers, from tightrope walkers to clowns and magicians, embody the tension between joy and survival. The circus and its family become a symbol of the broader social body, with each character representing the individuals who comprise the state’s fabric. With concealed motives that slowly unravel under closer inspection, Izoli reveals an environment we, as spectators, have only observed from the outside. He invites us inside the fortress-like walls, offering a view from within.
Rendered in his signature fragmented color style, each painting presents a portrait that speaks to resilience, illusion, and the spectacle of existence. Figures of entertainment, marred by despair and sadness, mirror Izoli’s reflections on the toll conflicts have on everyday life. Some hide behind curtains, others peer out, offering viewers a guarded gaze from within a fortress-like world. Each character remains confined within their own space, some carry suitcases, others’ gaze looms over the big top. Every gesture reflects the emotional heaviness and psychological barriers imposed by our world. The figures seem unable to escape or engage with a reality beyond their own, a world that exists within the fragile yet resilient walls of the circus tent.
Beyond their colorful attire, the circus troupe imagined by Izoli reveals deeper emotions: manipulation, sorrow, and anxiety juggle between the characters’ hands. Distraught feelings resurface, and the figures cease to represent joy or entertainment. Instead, they juggle life’s weight together with their daily struggles. Balance is key to this new take on Izoli’s distinctive use of collage-style painting. It emerges through the interplay between the vibrancy and coolness of his color palette, the joy and sorrow expressed through his chosen characters, and the tension between manipulation and the direct figurative clarity of his themes.
The roundness present in their bodies does not reflect an idealized physiology, but rather the emotional and psychological weight borne by these characters. A symbol of the quiet toll exacted by prolonged conflict and persistent worry in a world imposed upon us. It is this gravity that tethers them, making it difficult to envision an end to their actions as they juggle, balance, and navigate day-to-day realities that offer little to no means of escape.
This series marks a new direction in Izoli’s practice, yet remains rooted in the influence of those who came before him. The theme of balance resurfaces through a contemporary reinterpretation of Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, now reimagined in the shape-shifting form of a clown. Like a joker card in a game, the two paintings featuring this clown figure act as wildcards, capable of ending this tumultuous spectacle of emotions. Manipulation takes center stage in these works: vibrant colors, playful acts, and magical illusions draw the viewer in, only to mask the deeper realities beneath the surface. In this swirling performance, joy and despair are intertwined, both performed and concealed at once.
About the artist
Hypnotizing in their emotional depth, Elias Izoli’s works captivate viewers through melancholic facial expressions that reflect intrinsic thoughts.
Izoli’s painting technique can be described as a hybrid, interweaving traditional painting methods with elements of collage. Canvas cutouts form the base pattern upon which his subjects emerge. From children to circus performers, Izoli continuously shifts his focus to different figures while maintaining a consistent intention: to draw viewers into the emotional world of his subjects and create an environment in which both artwork and audience emotionally co-exist. Izoli’s subjects provoke a subtle sense of intrusion, yet they foster a strong empathetic connection with the viewer. The melancholic atmosphere, combined with his signature muted palette, invites the audience into these intimate and emotionally charged spaces.
His fascination with his predecessor, Louay Kayyali, led him to create a series using the same techniques and muted color palette that have defined his work since the beginning of his career. In this series, Izoli adopts Kayyali’s curvaceous, fluid forms to depict human figures, reflecting on the consumerist state of the world, a condition that erodes compassion and empathy, themes omnipresent in Izoli’s art.
After a long hiatus caused by the emotional and psychological toll of the Syrian conflict, Izoli has reclaimed his artistic voice, breathing new life into his canvases. His recent depictions of circus performers place life in a delicate balance, echoing the instability and tension inherent in each act portrayed. Melancholy once again pervades the works, etched into the grimaces of characters who, despite being symbols of joy and entertainment, radiate nostalgia and deep sadness.
Born in 1976, Elias Izoli lives and works in Damascus, Syria. Since 1993, his works have been showcased in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including several at Ayyam Gallery in Beirut and Dubai (2010, 2012, 2013, 2016, and 2018).
