Walid El Masri (Syria)

Walid El Masri’s artistic practice begins with a keen examination of a single material subject which is revealed in the spatial and textural explorations of his Symbolist abstracted paintings. These subjects have include such things as a chair, a tree, etc. In his recent body of work the artist has observed movement and vibration as encapsulated in the life cycle of a butterfly cocoon, the dramatic transition of which alludes to a representation of Syria in its current state.

Of Lebanese background, El Masri was born in Syria in 1979. Prior to completing a Bachelor of Art at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Damascus in 2005, he studied the art of mosaic and trained with renowned expressionist painter Marwan Kasab Bashi at the Summer Academy of Darat Al-Funun, Amman, Jordan. Selected solo exhibitions include Europia Gallery Paris, France (2014); Ayyam Gallery Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (2013); Ayyam Gallery Beirut, Lebanon (2013); Ayyam Gallery DIFC, Dubai, UAE (2012); Ayyam Gallery Al Quoz, Dubai, UAE (2009); Art Beijing Contemporary Art Fair, China (2009); Art Hong Kong Art Fair, China (2009) and Ayyam Gallery Damascus, Syria (2008).