Marwan Sahmarani’s impactful freedom of gesture through brushstroke and heavy impasto showcases the raw energy in a form of intense vibrancy. In this piece the presence of blue, the water, becomes the focus of the painting. The negative space is layered with abstract shapes, adding movement and stark contrast to the blue backdrop.
Marwan Sahmarani (b. 1970, Beirut) lives and works between Beirut and the small Mediterranean mountain village of Tarbena, Spain. His textured paintings of powerful, robust brushstrokes, thick layers of paint and vibrant colours, serve as a poignant reflection of Lebanon’s enduring political turmoil. Sahmarani looks to the cyclical patterns of violent history in the Middle East, his works pure expressions of violence, through gesture and movement. Recent landscapes are more mediative in character, and yet share a monumental, pure elemental force.
Marwan Sahmarani has had several solo and group exhibitions in Europe, North America, and the Middle East, and was a winner of the Abraaj Group Art Prize in 2010.
