LIVING ON THE EDGE
Serwan BARAN
24 June - 31 July 2013

Nabad opens an exhibition of paintings, sketches and sculptures by Iraqi Kurdish artist, Serwan Baran on Monday 24 June at 6:30 pm. Using vivid colours alongside his more sombre palette, the artist presents a series of emotionally-charged composite portraits, some marked by a hand ‘gesture’, representing a state of mind or a commentary on contemporary events. His exaggerated, tenuously-positioned figures,  highlighted by a monochromatic background, reflect an ironic humour and existential angst and disorientation. Rather than being disturbing, his distorted human figures convey vulnerability, the tenderness and passion of romantic relationships and the despair of solitude.

Born in Baghdad in 1968, Serwan Baran graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from Babel University. “Living on the Edge” is Serwan’s eleventh solo show. Since 1991, he has held ten solo exhibitions in Tokyo, Japan and across the Arab world, most recently at the Matisse Gallery in Marrakesh. He has participated in numerous regional group exhibitions, including the International Cairo Biennale in 1999, the Kuwait Biennale in 2011 and the Morocco Biennale in 2012. In 2002, Serwan was awarded a Medal of Appreciation at the Third International Baghdad Biennale and a Gold Medal at the Plastic Arts Festival in Baghdad in 1994 and 1995. He lives and works in Amman.