Oussama Diab ayyam gallery beirut | damascus | dubai
Oussama Diab
Damascus
Mezzeh West Villas
30 Chile Street, Samawi Building
Damascus - Syria
Phone + 963 11 613 1088 - Fax + 963 11 613 1087
info@ayyamgallery.com
Dubai
3rd Interchange, Al Quoz 1, Street 8
P.O.Box 283174 Dubai - UAE
Phone + 971 4 323 6242 - Fax + 971 4 323 6243
dubai@ayyamgallery.com
Beirut
Beirut Tower, Ground floor, Zeitoune Street
Across from Beirut Marina, Solidere
Beirut - Lebanon
Phone + 961 70535301
beirut@ayyamgallery.com
© All rights reserved 2009
ayyam gallery beirut | damascus | dubai
A Fairy Tale of Love and Freedom
Ousama Diab tackles social and political problems with the naïve technique of children.
"Her name is Mariam!" says Ousama Diab pointing to a fleshy woman who appears in a collection of his paintings entitled Mariam, as if introducing an old friend. However, Mariam with her bent head and slightly curled up body, seems stuck inside Diab's canvases. Painted with earthy colors and rugged lines, she seems as if sculpted from mud. "Mariam is Palestine," Diab says. "She represents Palestinians stricken by massacres, hunger and displacement"
Though she never looks you in the eye, Mariam's forefingers are always stretched out, as if trying to draw your attention to her story; a story Diab lived as a Palestinian refugee who was forced to flee his country and as the son of a fedayee who fought hard for unachieved independence.
As Diab's style leans towards naïve art, wars and massacres are no longer his subjects. Instead, he criticizes the lack of love and solidarity among people and their everyday struggle to make ends meet.
"People used to give without taking only two decades ago; today they act like the Syrian proverb says: scratch my back and I'll scratch yours, or even worse; they say scratch my back but I won't scratch yours."
Diab says recalling with nostalgia how his mother used to fill a plate of their favorite food for the neighbors to taste and how warmly neighbors used to greet each other in the street; customs that Diab says aren't that customary any more.
Except for Diab; in his studio, I was received with extremely sweet tea, delicious handmade Palestinian pastry and was seen off with a shot of strong black coffee prepared by his cheerful father. On canvas, Diab's paintings remain grim and grey though. He depicts screaming faces, dark monsters and frightening animals. For him, a painting doesn't have to be beautiful, what matters, is that it reflects his feelings. "I'm not a singer, I don't need to entertain the audience; I showcase what I feel and they are free to like it or not."
Nevertheless, since Diab found love himself, his paintings became more colorful and jolly. In one of his latest paintings, Diab presented his own version of "the little red riding hood" where instead of trying to eat the red riding hood, the wolf falls for her.
Painted mainly with acrylic and oil colors, Diab's paintings are finished off with pastel to remind you of children's drawings on the school's blackboard. Also similar to children's drawings are Diab's repeated elements like hearts, wings and arrows symbolizing love, freedom and killing. In fact watching Diab's paintings and his strange mythological characters, with five eyes, seven toes and a great verity of colors, is like leafing through a fairy tale. Even Diab's still life paintings, mainly in the form of a flower pot with three flowers in it, have an air of supernaturalism about them. But then who wants to depict life exactly as it is? Certainly not Diab! "While a painter paints an apple, an artist eats it and paints how it tastes." He says.
Nadia MuhannaWHIPLIKE LINES
Dynamism is the hallmark of Oussama Diab's work, expressed in wildly rhythmic lines, which are at the same time skilfully restrained. In his first compositions, shapes come first and he deliberately employs dull colours in order to highlight the roundness and volume of objects, very much as in sculpture.
In his most recent works, we find the same dynamic lines combined with a new approach to composition, in which the subjects are human figures, animals and still lifes.
The influence of street art on his work is obvious. This is the art of building site fences and tube station walls, born in New York and best represented by Basquiat. Oussama Diab has a real feel for colour and his use of the colour white is particularly effective.
His artwork is fuelled by controversy and rebellion, and uses its dynamism and strength to emphasise its message of struggle and its opposition to the social system.
Michel BohbotBiography
Palestinian artist born in 1977, Oussama Diab graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts – Damascus, Syria in 2002.
Dynamism is the hallmark of Oussama Diab's work, expressed in wildly rhythmic lines, which are at the same time skillfully restrained. In his first compositions, shapes come first and he deliberately employs dull colors in order to highlight the roundness and volume of objects, very much as in sculpture.
The influence of street art on his work is obvious. This is the art of building site fences and tube station walls that comes from New York and best represented by Basquiat. Oussama Diab has a real feel for color and his use of the color white is particularly effective.
In his most recent works, we find the same dynamic lines combined with a new approach to composition, in which the subjects are human figures, animals and still lifes.
His artwork is fueled by controversy and rebellion, and uses its dynamism and strength to emphasize its message of struggle and its opposition to the social system.
Recognition of Diab’s talent is steadily increasing. He has participated in many exhibitions in Egypt, Canada, the UAE and in Ayyam Gallery Damascus and Dubai.
© Bassam Diab 2009
70 ■ ‘Mirrors’ 150 X 170 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■
68 69 ■ ‘Face in White 1’ 150 X 130 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■ ■ 150 X 130 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■
66 67 ■ 150 X 130 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■ ■ 150 X 130 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■
64 65 ■ 150 X 130 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■ ■ 150 X 130 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■
62 63 ■ ‘Masks No.1’ 145 X 345 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■
60 61 ‘Mirrors’ 150 X 130 cm. X 2 Mixed Media on Canvas 2009
58 ■ 150 X 170 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas. 2009 ■
56 57 ■ ‘Wedding 1’ 150 X 170 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■ ■ ‘A Woman Plays on Flowers’ 170 X 150 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■
54 ■ 150 X 130 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas. 2009 ■
52 53 ■ 150 X 170 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas. 2009 ■ ■ ‘Lady in White’ 150 X 170 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■
50 ■ ‘Me’ 150 X 170 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■
48 49 ■ ‘Ahmad and Words’ 150 X 170 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■ ■ ‘Things’ 150 X 150 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■
46 ■ 120 X 120 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■
44 ■ ‘The King and The Mask’ 120 X 120 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■
42 43 ■ ‘Gaza’ 150 X 170 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■ ■ 120 X 120 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■
40 41 ■ 120 X 120 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2009 ■ ■ 63 X 60 cm. Acrylic on Wood 2008 ■
38 39 ■ 54 X 66 cm. Acrylic on Wood 2008 ■ ■ 'A Violin and Flowers' 120 X 120 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2008 ■
36 37 ■ 120 X 120 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2008 ■ ■ 'Layla and the Wolf' 120 X 120 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2008 ■
34 35 ■ 'Layla and a Bird' 120 X 120 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2008 ■ ■ 'Me and a Little Bit of Love' 120 X 120 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2008 ■
32 33 ■ 'A Bird and a Flower' 120 X 120 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2008 ■ ■ 140 X 170 cm. Acrylic on Canvas 2008 ■
30 31 ■ 130 X 150 cm. Acrylic on Canvas 2008 ■ ■ 58 X 70 cm. Acrylic on Wood 2008 ■
28 29 ■ 130 X 150 cm. Acrylic on Canvas 2008 ■ ■ 130 X 120 cm. Acrylic on Canvas 2008 ■
26 27 ■ 'A Bird & A Black' 150 X 130 cm. Acrylic on Canvas 2008 ■ ■ 'My Heart is Not Dead But Still It Hasn't Become a Stone' 130 X 120 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2008 ■
24 ■ 120 X 145 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2008 ■
22 ■ 152 X 122 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2008 ■
20 ■ 182 X 182 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2008 ■
18 19 ■ 120 X 145 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2008 ■ ■ 122 X 152 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2008 ■
16 ■ 100 X 120 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2007 ■
14 15 ■ 151 X 181 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2006 ■ ■ 151 X 181 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2006 ■
12 13 ■ 150 X 181 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2006 ■ ■ 135 X 151 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2006 ■
10 11 ■ 130 X 161 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2006 ■ ■ 81 X 101 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2006 ■
9 ■ 120 X 130 cm. Mixed Media on Canvas 2006 ■
ام وأا ،هيرتروبلا ىلع ءاوش� ةيرخألاا هلامعأا نانفلا فش�ي كلذك .غراف ناكم في كش�فن ىرت نأا ،اهل ناردج لا يتلا كلت نوجش�لا هذهف ،تلاامتحا نم كلانه ام لىإا ،س�كعلا انايحأاو ،ارتوتم لكش�لاو انكاش� غارفلا نوكي انايحأاف ،ناتش�فلا تاحولب اهتيمش�ت نكيم .لوقي امك اهنيولاتو ةيناش�نإلاا ةفطاعلاب ةقلاع اهل تايطعم ،هتيمهأاو هجولا يربعتب ثحبلاب لاوغش�م هدنج ،نفلا اذهل ةيئانثتش�لاا ةبوعش�لا مغر ،هيرتروبلاب اذوخأام نانفلا دنج مويلا يواش�أالما ىنعلماب لا ،جرالخا لىإا لخادلا نم رجفتم هل ةبش�نلاب هيرتروبلاف .يعلا يربعت ىلع انهارم ،هجولا هلمحي يذلا عابطنلااب ،ناتش�فلا لىإا هيرتروبلا هذخأا دقف ثحبلا نم عون هيلإا ةبش�نلاب ريوش�تلا نألاو .هلخاد ءيش�ل ،هباتنا ام ءيش�ل رجفتم هنإا ،حرفلما لاو كلذل وهو ،هراوجب روش�نم ناتش�ف لىإا تفتليل دعب نع اهلمأاتي حارو ،ليش�غلا لبح ىلع هيرتروب ةحول ،هجولا قلع نأا فدش� دقل نأا انه نانفلا دري لم .ناتش�فلا تاحول في ليش�فت نع ايرثك فلتخي لا هتدجول هيرتروب نم اينول لايش�فت مويلا تذخأا ول :رش�في حطش� ىلع اهعش�و ةيقيقح يتاش�فب ءاج انايحأاو ،اهناتش�ف ةأارلما نم راعتش�ا دقل ،يوثنألاا يرش�بلا دش�لجا ىلع ةرش�ابم لغتش�ي نأا ،ودبي ام في ،نانفلا ديري لا يذلا اذه ،هش�فن لكش�لا ةيمهأا اهل يتلا ،ةينوللا تاقلاعلا وه ،انه نانفلا مهي هنأا ودبي ام .ةحوللا .يقلتلما نم لمعلا برقي )لكش�لا( هنأا ابرتعم هنع ىلختي امك ،هدش�اقم دحأا كلذ برتعي نانفلا نإاف ،لافطألاا موش�ر لىإا برقأا اهنأاب بايد ةماش�أا نانفلا لامعأا فش�ي س�عبلا ناك اذإاو يتش�لا في وهو وش�اكيبل لوقب انه دهش�تش�ي وهو ،يرطفلا وأا ،يوفعلا بولش�ألاا اذه وه لافطألاا موش�ر هيلع يوطنت ام زربأا نأا ىري ،ييلوفطو يلزتمخ بايد نانفلا س�اخش�أا نأا حيحش�و .مش�رلا في لافطألاا س�ح لىإا لوش�ولا ةبوعش�لا نم نأا دجي ذإا ،رمعلا نم نيوكتلا وأا بش�نلا في ءاوش� ؛تامازتلا وأا دعاوق يأا نم درجلما مش�رلا ةيوفع في يه اذإا ةركفلا .لاقت ةيرثك ءايش�أا مهلخادب نكل .هتحول في طباوش�لا كلت لك نانفلا مده دقل ،امهاوش�و في س�يعت يتلا ،ةش�الخا هدورو كلت تناك ،ةايلحا في ةدوجوم تش�يل دورو ىلع نانفلا لغتش�ا ةتماش�لا ةعيبطلا نم هتعوممج في خانم في اهتبنتش�يل ،فيلألاا هناكم نم عزتنلما ينيطش�لفلا وهو ،هش�فن عاترخا بايد ةماش�أا لواحي كلذك .يئانثتش�او س�اخ خانم رياغم ىش�يع دش�ار قش�مد ديلاوم نم ينيطش�لف دقان قش�مد في ةينانبللا »يرفش�لا« ةديرلج فياقثلا لش�ارلما في ةليملجا نونفلا ةيلك نم جرخت ،1977 ماع ديلاوم نم ينيطش�لف نانف ،بايد ةماش�أا .2002 ماع ايروش� ،قش�مد في ةيكيمانيدلا هذه رهظت .بايد ةماش�أا لامعألا ةزيملما تامش�لا ثركأا نم ةيكيمانيدلا دعت ،س�وخش�لا لتتح .ةعابرب ةظفحتم هتاذ تقولا في يه يتلاو ،ةرتاوتلما ةمحالجا هطوطخ هتاحول في ةتهاب ناولأا مادختش�ا دش�قتي هدنج ثيح ،لىوألاا ةبترلما ،لىوألاا هتانيوكت في .تحنلا نف يربك دح لىإا لثايم يذلا رمألاا ،هتاعوش�وم مجحو ةرادتش�ا زاربإلا ءانبلا عقاوم راوش�أا ىلع هدنج يذلا نفلا اذه .هلامعأا في حش�او عراش�لا نف يرثأات نأا امك حش�او ليثتم يه يتلا )Basquiat( تايكش�اب لامعأا يه امك ،وترلما تاطمح ناردجو ةش�اخو نوللا مادختش�ا في لاع س�حب بايد عتمتي امك .كرويوين نم مداقلا نفلا اذهل .هتاحول في ةيربك ةيلاعفب هفظوي يذلا س�يبألاا نوللا اهيف ذختي ،نيوكتلل ةديدج ةبراقم عم اهتاذ ةيكيمانيدلا هطوطخ ةيرخألاا هلامعأا في ىرن .هل اعوش�وم ةتماش�لا ةعيبطلاو تاناويلحاو س�وخش�لا ديكأات ىلع هتوقو لمعلا ةيكيمانيد لمعتو بايد ةماش�أا لامعأا تاش�قانتلاو ةروثلا يذغت .يعامتجلاا ماظنلا ةش�راعمو هتاحول في حافكلا ةلاش�ر س�راعلما نم ديدعلا في كترش�ا دقو .رارمتش�اب ديازتم ريدقتب بايد ةماش�أا ةبهوم ىظتح .يبد و قش�مد في اهيعرفب مايأا ييرلاغ فيو تارامإلااو ،ادنكو ،رش�م نم لك في
لاطب غارفلا يليكش�تلا فترحلما ؛يفترمح يب بايد ةماش�أا )1977( دلولماو ةأاش�نلا يروش�لا ،ةيش�نلجا ينيطش�لفلا يليكش�تلا نانفلا عقي هلعلو ،يفترحلما لاك مومه نم هتش�ح نانفلا ذخأا دقف امهنم لكل ةفلتخلما تاهجوتلا مغرو .يروش�لا فترحلماو ،ينيطش�لفلا ىلع ددعتلا اذه ةردق فرعي وهف ،ةثلاث ةفاقث لىإا ءامتنلاا في هتبغر نلاعإا بش�حو ةباعدلا باب نم س�يلو ،هتعتم لك كلذ في دجي .طباوش� لاو دودح نود نم قللخاو يركفتلا لياتلابو ،ةلتاقلا تايوهلا رش�أا نم ررحتلا اهمش�ري حار يتلا ةيرثألاا هتيش�خش� )هش�فن يبو هنيب اهيمش�ي اذكه( يمرم تناكف ،زومرلا رش�أا نم ،كلذ عم ،جني لم نانفلا نكلو نأا دح لىإا لمألاا في قرغت ،اش�لاخ اينيطش�لف ازمر تناك ،)2002( قش�مدب ةليملجا نونفلا ةيلك نم هجرخت ديعب ،ةرلما ولت ةرم نم اهباعلأا بعادت وأا ،ةش�ردلما لىإا بهذت نأا هب ملتح ام لك ةينيطش�لف ةلفط يمرمو .س�رألاا تاينبب لاإا ايرثك نولتي لا اهدش�ج ةحول ولخت املق يتلا ماهش�لا .س�رألاا ماهش� اهفقلتت نايرط ةلاح في يهو مث نم يمرم ظحلانش� اننكل .خوراش� اهعطاقي نأا نود يفخي لا انهو .روفش�ع لىإا تلوتح اهلعلو ،ةيلاتلا ةلحرلما ،ةبرجتلا تاحول في ةدوجوم دعت لم يمرم نكل .اهنم نانفلا لامعأا نم .ةيروطش�ألاا ةيناويلحا تانئاكلل وأا ناش�نإلال ءاوش� هتاحول في ةرش�اح ةحنجألاا دنج كلذل ،نايرطلاو ةيرلحا ةركفب هعلو نانفلا ،ةيدامر ناولأاب تاحول ىوتحا يذلا ، " ةفرغ " ناونع تتح ميقأا يذلا هش�رعم حلش�ي دقف يروش�لا نأاش�لاب همامتها جذونم امأا .مهتاقلاعو س�انلا عئابط ةيداش�تقلاا تامزألاا يرغت فيكو ،س�يعلا ةمقل ،راعش�ألاا ءلاغ ؛عراش�لاب نانفلا مامتها زرب هيفو ،لااثم ىلع لاغتش�لاا وه ،هلامعأا لمجلم مظانلا وه لظي ادحاو اطبار نأا كش� لاف تاعوش�ولما يب لقنتلا يرثك بايد نانفلا ناك اذإاو وأا نايرطلا ،لقثلا وأا ةفلخا اهحنيم وهف ،ةيش�خش�لا ةلاحب غارفلا طبر امئاد لواحي وه .لكش�لاب هتقلاع برع عبطلابو ،غارفلا بعش�أا نإا لوقي ايرعش� ايربعت غارفلا فش�ول نانفلا يرعتش�ي ام ابلاغو .حش�وأا يربعتب ةيناكمإلاا لكش�لل يطعي ام وه غارفلا ،عايش�لا
ayyam gallery
beirut | damascus | dubai
Damascus Mezzeh West Villas
30 Chile Street, Samawi Building
Damascus - Syria
Phone + 963 11 613 1088 - Fax + 963 11 613 1087 info@ayyamgallery.com
Dubai 3rd Interchange, Al Quoz 1, Street 8 P.O.Box 283174 Dubai - UAE
Phone + 971 4 323 6242 - Fax + 971 4 323 6243 dubai@ayyamgallery.com
Beirut Beirut Tower, Ground floor, Zeitoune Street Across from Beirut Marina, Solidere
Beirut - Lebanon Phone + 961 70535301 beirut@ayyamgallery.com
© All rights reserved 2009
ayyam gallery
beirut | damascus | dubai
