SYRIA - ALEPPO URBAN LANDSCAPES PAINTINGS SERIES BY TONY
ARTWORKS 2015-2017
baileyarts.org
KHAWAM
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 2017 COLLAGE PAINTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06 2016 COLLAGE PAINTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08 2015 COLLAGE PAINTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2015-2017 INDIVIDUAL PAINTINGS . . . . . . . . . . 12 THE PROCESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 NY METRO URBAN & INDUSTRIAL WORKS . . . 46 INSTALLATION ART . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 ARTIST BIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 ........................................ TONY KHAWAM GALLERY M: 201-704-7693 tonyhkhawam@gmail.com Boca Raton, FL / Wayne, NJ TonyKhawamArt.com Follow us on social media: facebook/TonyKhawamArt Twitter/Instagram: tony_khawam
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This catalog was published in conjunction with the exhibitions at Bailey Contemporary Arts (BaCA) and Red Dot Art Miami. © Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved. Images and content may not be reproduced, or distributed by any means for any purpose without an approval by the artist.
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Introduction by Mel Lehman The catalog is published in conjunction with Khawam’s solo exhibition at Bailey Contemporary Arts Gallery in Pompano Beach (Fort Lauderdale), and Art Basel, Miami Art week at Red Dot Art Miami, Florida that showcases his recent paintings from 2015 to 2017 of his unique semi-abstract style and vision of Syria’s urban landscapes in its war-torn cities and especially the urban scenes of his birth place the City of Aleppo. I’ve known Khawam since 2008 and collaborated on number of art exhibits in America for the Iraqi’s refugee artists. I’ve learned more about Khawam’s artistic venue in the past 10 years by applying his unique style of a single stroke that was developed by Khawam in the Mid-Nineties during his exploration of the abstract series of the New York Metro urban and industrial scenes. The sensitivity of the subject matter with an expressionist style and the manipulation of several layers of paint create a premise on the idea that our visions of wars are structured through our own varying positions. A fantastical place of fear, desire, refuge, conquest and decay evokes gestural movements that lift our spirit by witnessing
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the application of strokes that rises above and beyond the canvas boundary. Viewers at first glance see and experience both the sadness of the scene and hopeful feeling by using colorful palette to paint the neighborhoods and make it almost intact despite the depiction of haunting disturbing scenes of collapsed apartment floors, fallen balconies, curved rooftops and punched holes in the building facades. Khawam application and method of paint is evident in a new contemporary art direction of his paintings. Common Humanity is a non-profit organization based in New York City which seeks to build understanding, respect and friendship with the Middle East and the Muslim world. Mel Lehman is the director of Common Humanity. He has worked in international humanitarian issues for several decades, including two decades at the National Council of Churches. He has traveled extensively in the Middle East and has published a number of articles about his experience. He is a graduate of Eastern Mennonite University, Union Theological Seminary, and Columbia University.
ARTIST STATEMENT [Art makes people aware of their stream of consciousness. One very paint to create an abstract interpretation. My aim is not to focus on the important aspect of art is that it makes people aware of what they politics of the conflict, but instead to raise awareness in the hope of know and what they don’t know that they know.] changing the perception from destruction — of haunting and disturbing scenes to hopeful, colorful neighborhoods that are filled with life. Art is a universal language that connects with all people from different The presence of people is felt without showing human suffering and cultures of all ages. offer a glimpse of hope for residents to return and rebuild. The rapid My family immigrated to the US in 1976 and five years later I became execution of layered strokes give us hints of the 3 dimentional space a naturalized US citizen. I advanced my art career until I stopped with the suggestion of movement, and to evoke hidden personages painting in 2001 after the events of 9/11, and worked only as an art that center on expression rather than representation. director which offered me steady income to raise three children. I am a I began applying single strokes to my paintings in the mid-90’s that Syrian-American; had been watching events unfold in Syria influenced meant to convey my perception of the speed and flux of modern me to begin painting again in 2015. These experiences are reflected life in my previous abstract paintings of New York Metro urban and in my recent body of works. industrial scenes. The current work employs the same techniques My recent work showcases paintings of a semi-abstract vision of with expressionist approach. The method of my painting is equated Syria’s urban landscapes in its war-torn cities. My primary focus is with spontaneity and the rapid execution of painterly gestural-motifs of my birthplace — the city of Aleppo with urban scenes of collapsed with colorful but limited color palette. My objective is to bring forth apartment floors, fallen balconies, curved rooftops and punched the hidden characters of an urban scene in a neoplasticism style that holes in the building facades. My new direction is expressed primarily solidify my identity among my contemporaries. through the use of accumulative strokes and the manipulation of S YRIA - ALEPPO URBAN LANDSCAPES
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Aleppo Urban Landscapes No.10 & 11 – collage of 12 paintings – 35” x 72” acrylic, 2017
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Aleppo Urban Landscapes No.8 & 9 – collage of 12 paintings – 35” x 72” acrylic, 2017
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Aleppo Urban Landscapes No.6 & 7 – collage of 12 paintings – 35” x 72” acrylic, 2016
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Aleppo Urban Landscapes No.4 & 5 – collage of 12 paintings – 35” x 72” acrylic, 2016
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Aleppo Urban Landscapes No.2 & 3 – collage of 15 paintings – 34” x 69” acrylic, 2015
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Aleppo Urban Landscapes No.1 & 2 – collage of 15 paintings – 34” x 69” acrylic, 2015
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Aleppo Urban Landscapes series – under painting in black & white – 11” x 17” acrylic, 2017
THE PROCESS The process of each painting is a simple 3-4 steps process and follows a building construction, starting with a black and white loose sketch or underpainting of a realistic scene. The deconstruction process begins by applying translucent bold and thick strokes to finish with a semi-abstract fragmented expressionist painting of the scene. The final step is to assemble a minimum of six collage paintings to form one artwork.
Tony Khawam Gallery – Boca Raton, Florida / Wayne, New Jersey TonyKhawamArt.com - For more information and to inquire about the artwork send email to the artist at: tonyhkhawam@gmail.com Follow us on social media: Facebook/TonyKhawamArt - Twitter/Instagram: tony_khawam S YRIA - ALEPPO URBAN LANDSCAPES
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Aleppo Urban Landscapes series – collage of 12 under painting in black & white – 35” x 72” acrylic, 2016-2017
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Aleppo Urban Landscapes series – collage of 12 under painting in black & white – 35” x 72” acrylic, 2017
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New York Metro Urban and Industrial Landscapes The abstract works of the Mid-Nineties are based on the single stroke methodology that was developed by Khawam during his exploration of the abstract series from the New York Metro urban and industrial cityscapes, said Mel Lehman, director of CommonHumanity.org, this vision derived from modern life influenced by urbanism and the new technology, urban scenes and cityscapes with a bird’s-eye view. The method of the painting is spontaneous with the rapid execution of painterly expressionist approach and equated with a storytelling of the human genius in developing the land to best suit our inhabitant of the modern industrial and corporate world that shaped our live-workplay lifestyle. The single stroke method of painting had been used on the recent paintings of Aleppo Urban Landscapes series.
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Wire City – 26” x 24” acrylic, 1997
Excalibur – 54” x 35” acrylic, 1997
Spatial Dialogue-No1 – 16” x 20” acrylic, 1996
Public Square-No1 – 48” x 36” acrylic, 1997
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Installation Art - Aleppo Urban Landscapes paintings printed on vinyl and stretched on both sides of a tent – dimensions – 8’ x 4’ x 4’ 48
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ART INSTALLATION #SyriaArtProject – Art Installations Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that often are site specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called public art; however, the boundaries between these terms overlap.
experience of a tent is to evoke gestural movements while viewers are walking around the tents to lift our spirit in reference of refugees tents.
Art Installation assembly of two tents on a backdrop of an urban scene which adds to the drama while viewers walking around and Installation art includes hand built tents easy to assemble. The experiencing the installation in both daylight and night time with paintings are printed on vinyl and stretched on a wooden frame the proper flood lighting. The collage of paintings are not limited to shape of a tent similar to a canvas stretchers technique. The overall gallery walls and can be seen flat or on an angle in a gallery or in public space.
Downtown Boca Raton, Mizner Park at Sanborn Square
Bailey Contemporary Arts, Pompano Beach (Ft Lauderdale)
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ARTIST BIOGRAPHY Education 1985 - The School of Visual Arts, NYC. Graduated with B.F.A. in fine arts. Solo Exhibitions 2017 - Red Dot Miami during Art Basel Miami Art Fairs 2017 - B ailey Contemporary Arts, Pompano Beach (Fort Lauderdale), FL, Catalog show 2006 - Walter Wickiser gallery, New York, NY 2005 - CS Schulte gallery, Millburn, NJ 2003 - Simon Gallery, Morristown, NJ 2000 - Walter Wickiser gallery, New York, NY 2000 - Morris Museum of Art, Morristown, NJ 2000 - J ohnson & Johnson World Headquarters, NJ, “New Jersey artists series” 2000 - Simon Gallery, Morristown, NJ 1999 - Nabisco Gallery, NJ 1999 - Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ 1998 - CS Schulte gallery, Millburn, NJ 1996 - O.K. Harris gallery, New York, NY 1994 - The Dow Jones & Company Headquarters Gallery, Princeton, NJ 1993 - MetLife Gallery, New York, NY Curated and Group Exhibitions 2018 - A rt Fort Lauderdale, curated by 2017 - A rt Boca Raton/ Art Synergy, Int’l Pavilion of the Palm Beaches at Florida Atlantic University 2017 - A rt Palm Beach/ Art Synergy, Palm Beach Convention Center 2005 - “Figuration” New Jersey Center for Visual Arts Gallery, NJ 2001 - “ The NJ Fine Arts Annual”, The Noyes Museum of Art, NJ 2001 - “ The Art of Collecting” New Jersey Center for Visual Arts Gallery, NJ 2000 - “ Traveling Show” Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ & The Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA 2000 - “ Annual Art Talent” New American Paintings, catalog show 1999 - “Acrylic painters, Works on Paper” CS Schulte Gallery, Millburn, NJ
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TonyKhawamArt.com - tonyhkhawam@gmail.com 1998 - Group exhibition, O.K. Harris gallery, New York, NY 1998 - “The New Jersey Fine Arts Annual”, The Montclair Art Museum, NJ, Catalog show 1998 - City Without Walls gallery, Newark, NJ 1998 - “In Defense of the Enigmatic” Seton Hall University School of Law, Newark, NJ, curated by Stephen Sennott from City Without Walls gallery 1997 - “Works on Paper” Pritz gallery, Mayville, NY 1997 - “Acrylic painters” CS Schulte Gallery, Millburn, NJ 1997 - JCB International Co. Rockefeller Plaza, NYC, curated by Walter Wickiser gallery NYC 1997 - Three person show, Simon gallery, Morristown, NJ 1996 - “Works on Paper” Four persons show. CS Schulte Gallery, Millburn, NJ 1996 - “Art for new collectors” CS. Schulte Gallery, Millburn, NJ 1995 - “Landscapes, Past and Present” CS. Schulte Gallery, Millburn, NJ 1994 - Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ 1994 - Watchung Arts Center, NJ 1994 - New Jersey Center for Visual Arts Gallery, NJ 1994 - Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Gallery, NJ 1994 - Marcella Geltman gallery, Art Center of Northern NJ 1994 - Ridgewood Art Center, NJ 1993 - Merill Lynch Corporate Headquarters Gallery, Princeton, NJ 1993 - The Williams gallery, Princeton, NJ 1988 - Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY Grants, Awards and Collaborations Mid-Atlantic Artists Fellowship 2001/2002. Recipient of Geraldine Dodge Award, Artist in Residence, NJ series, 1997. Rutgers University Innovative Works on Paper & Printmaking Project, 1998. Curatorial and Art Advisory 1993-1999 MetLife art advisor for the corporate art collection. Curated 3 annual art shows featuring North East artists at the MetLife art gallery.
Selected curated shows “Printmaking Council of NJ at MetLife”. “A Mark of Excellence” a collection of art works from Raritan Valley College. “Looking within, Looking without” photographs by Ralph Maratta. 2000-2002 Merrill Lynch art advisor for the corporate art collection. Curator of 4 annual art shows. New York New York “Selections from the Merrill Lynch collection” Rauschenberg, Motherwell, Oldenburg, among other leading artists. African-American Artists “Selected works from Rutgers Center for Innovative Print & Paper” Ringgold, Gilliam, Brooker, Bullock, Burwell, Jarvis. Public Collections The Montclair Art Museum, Morris Museum, MetLife, Pulsar International Mexico, Tanagraphics Inc. NYC, Lucent Technologies, Fedders International, Nabisco Company, Johnson & Johnson, The Dow Jones & Company, Merrill Lynch and Numerous private collections. Reviews Tadashi Nakamae, the International Economy magazine, 2003. Steven Zevitas, Publisher, The Open Studios Press, New American Paintings, 2001. Dan Bischoff, The Star Ledger, NJ Artists series, June 2000”. Ralph Bellantoni, Courier News, ‘Biennial’ show gives art a new dimension, March 2000. Tina Traster, NJ Savvy Living, “The art of collecting fine art a learning experience” June 2000. Rachel Mullen, Recorder News, “Geometry & whimsy combined” April 2000. William Zimmer, The New York Times, “An Annual Appraisal of the Urge to Innovate” July 19, 1998. Pakesha Pettus, Mount Olive Cronicles, July, 1998. Dan Bischoff, The Star Ledger, Choosing New Jersey “1998 NJ Fine Arts Annual”. The Recorder, Publishing News, NJ, January 1997. Matt Sheehan, The Examinar, Ocean County NJ, Oct.1994. Arnold Friedman, Date Line Journal, Passaic County newspaper, NJ, Feb. 1994. Emanuel Haller, The Courier News, Sumerset County newspaper, NJ, July 1993. School of Visual Arts annual exhibition book, 1983.
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For more information about the artworks please contact the artist at: TonyhKhawam@gmail.com - TonyKhawamArt.com Š Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved. Images and content may not 52 TONYKHAWAMART.COM be reproduced, or distributed by any means for any purpose.