Marwan Sahmarani’s artwork is linked to his Middle Eastern origins. His oil paintings, drawings, ceramics and performative work are a reflection upon the mediums themselves in the face of socio-political problems. Alluding to the classical masters such as Rubens, Breughel or Bosch Lebanese painter Sahmarani gives the eternal themes of martyrdom, damnation and war a new expression in contemporary painting transcending boundaries of time, space and culture. Returning to these themes in his own works he not only pays homage to the old masters but also exemplifies the cyclical nature of human nature and history that keeps repeating itself. Whereas many motifs refer to the classical maters of the past Sahmarani’s technique shows a strong influence from modern and contemporary masters such as the abstract expressionism of Pollock or Francis or a brushstroke strongly reminiscent of Picasso’s ink sketches.

His large-scale vertical paintings furthermore resonate with the complexity of Sahmarani’s Middle Eastern identity – which rich in cultural heritage is also fraught with enormous social, religious and sexual tensions. On the white paper the artist’s pen blends and blurs his colours and paints just as he does with boundaries between ideology, reality and identity. With just a few strokes of charcoal, light brushes of paint and traces of pastel – all of which merely graze the paper – his paintings suddenly transform from tender caress into full-fledged battle. The artist brushes with death and flirts with madness, leaving no viewer untouched. Perfectly mastered strokes translate a unique language that is at once raw and bare, and has become Sahmarani’s very own signature.

In spite of his strong rooted-ness in painting and drawing, he stretches his practice onto other forms including sculpture, ceramics and performance. What strengthens his position as an artist, is the fact that all of these facets of his work are tied together and support each other completely; forming part of a stable, strong personal expression, which is his very own.

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Artist Statement

Marwan Sahmarani’s painting is tied to art history in general. He surfs between his Western cultural education and his oriental identity. Islamic and Mesopotamian art with its iconography and history mixes in with a Greco-Roman influence as well as the paintings of the great masters including Uccello, Rubens, and Picasso. He sources from art history the themes that remain timeless and that reflect current issues. His starting point is usually fictional and is often a story inspired by his own reality and placed in a historical light.

Sahmarani uses oil painting, ink, watercolor as his primary mediums of expression. His work is often about politics, sociology, war, and sexuality. The content of his paintings bathes in a surrealist mood where the limit between dream, fiction and reality no longer exists. His art is relevant to a contemporary experience and directly connects with his cultural background, experience of war, exile, and travel. His identity as an artist has always been deeply influenced by his Middle Eastern origins; his artistic work is a reflection upon the medium itself and its support in the face of sociopolitical problems.  

With just a few strokes of charcoal, light brushes of paint and traces of pastel, all of which merely graze the paper, his paintings suddenly transform from tender caress into full-fledged battle. The artist brushes with death and flirts with madness, leaving no viewer untouched. Perfectly mastered strokes translate a unique language that is at once raw and bare, and has become Sahmarani’s very own signature.

In spite of his strong rooted-ness in painting and drawing, he stretches his practice onto other forms including sculpture, ceramics and performance. What strengthens his position as an artist is the fact that all of these facets of his work are tied together and support each other completely; forming part of a stable, strong personal expression, which is his very own.