Alserkal Avenue, B11 Street 8, Al Quoz Industrial 1 Dubai, United Arab Emirates T: +971 4 323 62 42 F: +971 4 323 62 43 dubai@ayyamgallery.com www.ayyamgallery.com
Ayyam Gallery was founded in 2006 in Damascus by
area now known as Al Serkal Avenue, at a time when it
Khaled and Jouhayna Samawi; while the couple always
was not even zoned for commercial activity. They also
collected, it was only upon their relocation to Syria in
had branches in Dubai’s financial district, Jeddah, Beirut,
2001 that they immersed themselves in the Contemporary
and London. In addition to raising the exposure of Middle
Damascus art scene, and the idea to open a gallery was
Eastern art to a broader audience, the gallery has played
born.
a crucial role in preserving Syrian art during and postconflict.
Ayyam Gallery quickly established itself in the region and internationally with an identity that combined global
The Samawis relocated the gallery’s headquarters from
promotion of Middle Eastern art via commercial activities
Damascus to Dubai as well as 20-25 Syrian artists, their
and grassroots support for artists. Aid such as the Shabab
families, and some 22,000+ works of art from Damascus
Ayyam program for emerging artists, publications,
over three years. This move not only ensured the artist’s
educational programming, and several charity auctions.
personal safety but also the freedom to work and the legacy of Syrian art.
The gallery is one of the leading commercial galleries specializing in a roster of Arab and Iranian artists. With the
Ayyam Gallery remains a family business. Khaled’s
help of partner and cousin Hisham Samawi, the gallery
children have active roles in the company; it is now
was the first to move into a warehouse in Al Quoz, in the
managed by Maya, an architect, and art historian.
On the left, an installation shot from the summer collective exhibition, Echoes & Perceptions featuring works of AbdulKarim Majdal AlBeik, Sadik Kwaish Alfraji, and Sama Alshaibi. Above in the first row, in order from left to right, Fadi Mamlouk, Jouhayna Samawi, Sama Alshaibi, Maya Samawi, Ead Samawi, Khaled Samawi, and Hisham Samawi. In the middle, 1000 + 1 Grips of Time installation by Faisal Samra. On the left, an installation shot from Samia Halaby’s 2021 solo, Flurrying.
Selected programming and artists The gallery’s roster features established and emerging
Some self - taught, while others have bachelors and
Arab and Iranian artists alike. Our artists are spread across
masters, their roots are all that they have in common. As
three continents. Our artists are based in Europe, the US,
a window through our programming and what our artists
the Levant, Gulf, and Iran. The Middle Eastern identity is
represent we have gathered a snippet of information
simultaneous and synonymous with diaspora. Artists seek
accompanied by works by a selection.
refuge to live a better and more successful life, pursuing their passion.
Please feel free to visit our website at www.ayyamgallery.com for more
On the left, a Sadik Kwaish Alfraji exhibition in the Beirut space. Below on the left a video installation by Sama Alshaibi, in our Alserkal space, on the right hand side, a Mohamad Bozorgi exhibition in our Jeddah space. In the bottom a panoramic of our Beirut space, featuring a Samia Halaby exhibition.
The panoramic view is an installation by Ammar AlBeik, from an exhibition in our B11 space in Alserkal. The below row from left to right, Khaled Jarrar installation shot from our B12 space, in the middle a Nadim Karam install shots, and finally a Tammam Azzam exhibition.
Pioneer | Faisal Samra (Saudi Arabia-Bahrain, b. 1955) Long considered one of the Arab Gulf’s foremost artists
Samra’s works are housed in the collections of The British
and a pioneer of conceptual art in the Middle East,
Museum, London; BuchDruckKunst e.V Art Book Museum,
Bahraini-born, Saudi national Faisal Samra incorporates
Hamburg; the National Museum, Mexico City; the Modern
digital photography, painting, sculpture, video, and
Art Museum, Cairo; Almansouria Foundation, Jeddah;
performance in a creative repertoire that explores
Jameel Art Foundation, Jeddah; Jordan National Gallery
existentialist themes with the figure at its center. Since the
of Fine Arts, Amman; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern
mid-1970s, Samra has tested the conventional functions
Art, Doha; and Bahrain National Museum, Manama,
of media through meticulously structured works with
among others. He has participated in biennials in
experimentation and research as the guiding principles
Singapore and Cairo (2008) and is a jury member for the
of his artistic practice. As his oeuvre has progressed
Alexandria Biennale, Egypt.
and defied traditional modes of representation, he has rebelled against his own understanding of art, transitioning
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into new works that maintain three essential concepts:
2021 2009
spontaneity, dynamism, and secrecy.
Above, 1000 + 01 Grips of Time, 2019, Burnt clay and nails installation, and 99 Moments, 2019, Charcoal on paper installation.
Diriyah Biennale, First Biennale in Saudi Arabi 53rd International Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Right page (from left to right, top to bottom) Performance #36, 2007, Digital photo Performance #16, 2007, Digital photo P.61-D22, 2019, Charcoal and oil paint on canvas American Football Player, 1979, Pencil and pastel on paper Resistance,2010-2011,Video
Pioneer | Samia Halaby (Palestine, b. 1936) Born in Jerusalem in 1936, Samia Halaby is a leading
Halaby has been collected by international institutions
abstract painter and an influential scholar of Palestinian
since the 1970s, including The British Museum; the Solomon
art. Although based in the United States since 1951,
R. Guggenheim Museum of Art (New York and Abu
Halaby is recognised as a pioneer of contemporary
Dhabi); Yale University Art Gallery; National Gallery of
abstraction in the Arab world.
Art, Washington D.C.; Art Institute of Chicago; Cleveland Museum of Art; Institut du Monde Arabe and many more.
Halaby began her career in the early 1960s. Also influenced by the abstract movements of the Russian
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avant-garde, Halaby works with the conviction that new approaches to painting can redirect ways of seeing and
Samia was the first woman professor at Yale University.
thinking not only within the realm of aesthetics but also as
From the very start of her career in late 60s Samia has more than 29 solo shows and participate in more than 53 group exhibitions all over the world.
contributions to technological and social advancement. This underlying notion has led to additional experiments in drawing, printmaking, computer-based kinetic art, and free-from-the- stretcher painting.
Samia was featured in the 2022 biennale at the Palestinian Pavilion.
On the left
Above
New Orleans Harbour, 1984, Acrylic added to silkscreen proof
Green Horizon, 1977, Wax Crayons on Paper
Yellow-Green Wedge, 2018, Acrylic on canvasSamia Halaby
Circling Far, 2015, Acrylic on linen canvas
Ultra Marine Diagonal, 2011, Acrylic on paper
Pale and Green, 2015, Acrylic on linen canvas
Established | Sadik Kwaish Alfraji (Iraq, b. 1960) Sadik Kwaish Alfraji explores what he describes as ‘the
Arts, Amman; Novosibirsk State Art Museum, Russia; and
problem of existence’ through drawings, paintings, video
Cluj-Napoca Art Museum, Romania; Los Angeles Country
animations, art books, graphic art, and installations.
Museum; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha;
The shadowy protagonist who often appears in Alfraji’s
and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
multimedia works represents a black void, a filter that allows him to explore the intricacies of life. By rendering his
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solitary character as a charcoal-coloured silhouette and minimising the formal properties of his compositions, Alfraji captures the expressed movements and subtle inflections of the body in psychologically laden environments. The artist often records his own narrative in black and white scenes of this recurring figure, particularly the loss,
In 2022 Sadik had a big institutional show at Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort (Nederlands) Sadik work “Sing Like the Southerners Do”, is now part of Stedelijk Museum’s permanent collection, Amsterdam (Nederlands)
fragmentation, and lapses in time that underline exile.
2017 I am the Hunter/I am the Prey, 57th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Alfraji’s works are housed in private and public collections
2017 Archaic, 57th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (Curator: Martina Corgnati)
including Stedelijk Museum, the British Museum, London; National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad; The Art Center, Baghdad; National Gallery of Fine Arts Amman; Shoman Foundation, Amman; Royal Association of Fine
2015 Eye of the Thunderstorm: Effervescent Practices from the Arab World, 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (Curator: Martina Corgnati)
On the left
Below
Once I Could Fly, 2012, Indian Ink, Charcoal, Acrylic, Rice & Printed Paper on Canvas.
Nightmares of the Reeds 8, 2019, Oil and ink on paper Installation shot from one of his solos at our Alserkal space Inside the Floating Basket Home, 2018, Indian ink on canvas
Established | Safwan Dahoul (Syria, b. 1961) With a career spanning over three decades, Syrian artist,
and longing that punctuate the human experience at
Safwan Dahoul is now a household name both regionally
various stages in life.
and internationally. As one of the foremost painters in the Arab world, the artist has repeatedly demonstrated
Dahoul’s paintings are held in numerous private and
how contemporary modes of figuration can describe
public collections, including the Institut du Monde Arabe,
the psychic terrain of a region that is in constant flux.
Paris; Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; National Museum,
Throughout his career, Dahoul has managed to include
Damascus; The Samawi Collection, Dubai; The Farjam
varying artistic styles while still keeping to his core identity
Collection, Dubai; the Arab Fund for Economic and Social
and style.
Development, Kuwait.
Dahoul is mostly known for his beautiful melancholic and
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monochromatic works that present influences from the
entitled the Dream series, these works have explored the
Often misconceived as the wife he lost, Safwan’s protagonist is the representation of his subconscious, a narrator of his quotidien. She might have been the representation of a lost lover, but at the core she is the mirror of his deepest feelings and thoughts, a figure that
physical and psychological effects of alienation, solitude,
lives in all of us.
Cubist style of Picasso ranging to Assyrian and Pharaonic art. Since the late 1980s, the artist began an ongoing body of work investigating the dream state. Simply
On the left
Above
Dream 109, 2015, Acrylic on canvas
Dream 173, 2018, Acrylic on Canvas
Installation shot from one of his recent solo at our Alserkal space
Dream 99, 2015, Acrylic on canvas
Dream 152, 2017, Acrylic on canvas
Dream 100, 2015, Acrylic on canvas
Mid-career | Sama Alshaibi (Palestine - Iraq, b. 1973) Born in Basra to an Iraqi father and a Palestinian mother,
Though the artist uses her own body as the subject of
Sama Alshaibi is based in the United States, where she
the images, she does not consider the works to be self
is chair of the photography program at the university of
portraits, her body is an emblem of women, placing
arizona.
the feminin body in a place of power through her work. By using elements of her experiences, anxieties and
Situated within natural environments, Sama Alshaibi’s
curiosities, the artist is able to embody different characters
multimedia work explores spaces of conflict and the
that perform various issues, people and concepts.
power struggles that arise in the aftermath of war and exile. Alshaibi is particularly interested in how such clashes
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occur between citizens and the state, creating vexing crises that impact the physical and psychic realms of the individual as resources and land, mobility, political agency, and self-affirmation are compromised.
2021 Guggenheim Fellowship in Photography, The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, USA 2013 55th Venice Biennale, Maldives National Pavilion, Maldives (Curators: Aida Eltorie and Alfredo Cramerotti)
Through performance, video, photography, and allegorical site that makes the byproducts of war visible.
She is Chair and Professor of Photography and Video Art at the University of Arizona
Above
On the right
Installation shot from one of her recent solo at our Alserkal space
Ma Lam Tabki (Unless weeping), Silsila, 2014, Diasec print, 2014
installation, Alshaibi positions her own body as an
Gamer, 2019, Photogravure Before Us, 2019, Albumen Sketch 9, Negative Capable Hands, 2010, Digital print Sissy My Playmate, The Pessimists Series, 2010, Video
Mid-career |Thaier Helal (Syria, b. 1967) Helal launched his career in his native Syria, where he
that often blur the lines between painting and
studied with seminal painters at the Faculty of Fine Arts,
assemblage. With an innovative painting style that
University of Damascus. After relocating to the United
has progressed over the course of two decades, Helal is
Arab Emirates in the 1990s, he developed a distinct
recognised as working at the forefront of contemporary
method of painting that incorporates unconventional
abstraction in the Middle East.
materials such as glue, sand, and coal in an attempt to recreate the physical and sensory aspects of the world
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around him. To make his textured painting Thaier creates a type of Thaier Helal’s constant search for experimental forms has
paste using shredded recycled paper mixed with acrylic
led him to include diverse media, arriving at approaches
and other chemicals.
Above
On the right
Installation shot from his most recent solo at our Alserkal space
Untitled, 2018, Mixed media on canvas
Fracture’, Mixed Media on Canvas, 2018 Thaier Helal ‘Abyss’, Mixed media on paper, 2020-2021
Qalamoun Mountains II, 2014, Mixed media on canvas Sky Line, 2012, Acrylic on canvas Untitled, 2018, Mixed media on canvas Bird’s Eye View, 2021, Acrylic on canvas
Emerging |Elias Izoli (Syria, b. 1976) Born in Damascus, Syria in 1976, Izoli lives and works in the
has inspired the artist to create works that are balanced
city.
between intimacy and invasiveness.
A self-taught realist painter whose creativity was harnessed at an exceptionally young age, Elias Izoli’s
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talents were recognized early on. With consummate draftsmanship, a marked command of colour, and
While trying to break the boundaries, and creating more
an intensive approach to capturing his subjects, Izoli’s
depth and texture, Elias delved into a collage technique,
compositions reinvent conventional portraiture. Izoli’s
in which he would create relief in the background of his
works comment on the rise of consumerist escapism,
acrylic by collaging canvas shapes onto the canvas.
which has desensitized our capacity for compassion and empathy. Having a career spanning over two decades,
Elias produced a body of work in hommage to Syrian
Izoli’s works investigate the motif of children caught in
master, Louay Kayali, in which he portrays contemporary
the crossfire of violence. The impact of the Syrian war
society with references of today’s pop culture.
On the left
Above
Installation shot from one of his solos at our Beirut space
Untitled, 2017, Mixed media on canvas
Untitled, 2016, Mixed media on canvas
Untitled, 2015, Mixed media on canvas
Untitled, 2014, Mixed Media on Canvas
Untitled, 2011, Acrylic on canvas
Untitled, 2011, Acrylic on Canvas
Untitled, 2017, Mixed media on canvas
Emerging |Kais Salman (Syria, b. 1976) Embarking on a different path than that of his
of depravity, Salman unearths a world of ugliness and
contemporaries and predecessors, Kais Salman’s work
abjection through intentionally hyperbolised imagery
has been described as monochromatic, abstract
accentuated by punches of colour and aestheticised
expressionism. The artist uses satire to subvert the
forms. Political corruption, terrorism, consumerism,
normalisation of greed, narcissism, and ideological
cosmetic surgery, religious fanaticism, imperialism, and
extremism that is rapidly defining our era. As one of Syria’s
the voyeurism of the digital age have all served as topics
foremost expressionist painters, Salman has contributed to
of Salman’s carnivalesque compositions.
a decades-long artistic tradition that continues to serve as a powerful outlet for social commentary. A consummate
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formalist, he is recognised as one of the Arab world’s most accomplished painters. Since the early 2000s, Salman has sought to reflect the psychological violence that occurs when excess
Salman has been featured in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, among other international publications, and was listed for the second time in Arabian Business’ 100 Most Powerful Arabs Under 40 in 2016.
becomes rationalised and accepted by societies. Seeking
Accompanied by Elia Izoli, Kais is the only artist on our
to confront and exorcise sociocultural manifestations
roster still living and producing in Syria.
Above
On the right
First Face, 2008, Mixed media on canvas
Magic Lantern 2, 2015, Acrylic on Canvas
Untitled, 2010, Mixed media on canvas
Untitled, 2015, Acrylic on canvas
Untitled, 2012, Mixed media on canvas
Installation shot from one of his recent solo at our Alserkal space
November exhibition | Mouteea Murad | The common pursuit of happiness Mouteea Murad’s work sees a unification of spirituality
In his most recent series, his relationship with mathematics
and formalism, continuously drawing influence from the
plays an integral role, with the Fibonacci numbers and
geometric forms and motifs of Islamic art. Murad began
sequence at its centre. His forms and lines are largely
his career as a painter working on monochromatic,
defined by algebraic functions and their geometric
expressionist compositions that depict the anguish of
application within the work. Murad continues to draw
modern man. In 2007, his work took on a renewed outlook
inspiration from Islamic art while employing forms and lines
that redirected his painting style, exploring relativity,
largely defined by algebraic functions, allowing for his
spatiality, and the visual dynamic of geometric forms.
work to see a unification of spirituality and formalism.
In his compositions, the artist builds on the breakthroughs
In his november exhibition, we recreate Mouteea’s studio and his path towards happiness and meaning through color, composition, mathematics, and much more. Mouteea’s latest work studies symmetry in all it’s aspects, via geometry and optical illusions.
of previous movements, experimenting with automatic brushwork, the illusionistic perspective of Op art, the symmetry of geometric abstraction, and the collapsing planes of Suprematism. Highly influenced by artists such as Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky.
Hope to see you at the gallery!
Above
On the right
Untitled, 2008, Acrylic on canvas
Trial No. 105, 2015, Acrylic on canvas
Trial No. 68, 2012, Acrylic on canvas
Trial No. 108; Moments from the Happy Bow, 2015, Acrylic on canvas Trial No. 106, 2015, Acrylic on canvas Trial No. 107; Moments from Childhood, 2015, Acrylic on canvas Installation shot from one of his solos at our Beirut space Trial No. 129 - The Journey of the Bird in Damascus, 2016, Acrylic on canvas Trial No. 133 - When Your Soul Got Mixed with Mine, 2016, Acrylic on canvas