Contemporary Lebanese artist Hanibal Srouji was born in Beirut in 1957. He resided in Saïda, Southern Lebanon, before immigrating with his family to Canada in 1976. Before plunging into the...
HANIBAL SROUJI, Lebanon (1957)
Bio
Written by WAFA ROZ
Contemporary Lebanese artist Hanibal Srouji was born in Beirut in 1957. He resided in Saïda, Southern Lebanon, before immigrating with his family to Canada in 1976. Before plunging into the multidisciplinary realm of art, Srouji completed a degree in Social Sciences at Vanier College in 1978, where he explored interests in mathematics and chemistry. He obtained a B.F.A. in Fine Arts in 1982 and an M.F.A. in 1987 from Concordia University in Montréal. Towards the end of his education at Concordia, Srouji accomplished his thesis study at the Ecole des Beaux-arts in Nîmes, where he received a Diplôme National Supérieur d'Expression Plastique (D.N.S.E.P.) in 1987. He taught at different universities in the United States, Canada, and Paris, and in 2010 joined the faculty of the Lebanese American University in Beirut, where he holds today the position of Associate Professor.
After spending the first year of the Lebanese civil war working as a Red Cross volunteer, Srouji escaped the violence on a cargo boat from Saida to Cyprus, where he emigrated to Canada. Though he was able to avoid the majority of the war, his experiences with the Red Cross marked him forever, and his displacement from Lebanon generated great agony that he would later address through his art. The brutality of the war did not only inspire pessimism in the artist, however.
At his family home in Saida, his father kept over fifty birds in an outdoor cage, which sang every morning. When a close bomb exploded at the outset of the civil war, the cage was blown open without killing all the animals inside it; as the birds flew free, Srouji realized the possibility of bliss, liberty, or enlightenment through the disaster.
As a painter, Srouji strikes an uncommon balance between nostalgic, symbolic motifs and colorful, luminous palettes. On untreated canvas, which the artist sees as an extension of his skin, he sets his marks with an amalgam of tools and materials, including fire, calque paper, rust, acid, acrylic paint, and water. Replacing light with fire and figures with blemishes of color, Srouji creates musical visuals inspired by the romantic tunes of Chopin, Schubert, and Bach. His abstract, open compositions are at once somber and playful, evoking both magic and chemistry and suggesting an engagement with the dream-worlds of the unconscious. Sublimation is a given in Srouji's account of artistic creation. He restructures any destructive vigor – be it war, environmental abuse, or societal aggression – into a constructive one, attempting to create a complex, contemplative picture of hope and optimism. In his early years, his paintings were populated with gestural, lyrical abstractions. Following his first exhibition in Lebanon in 1997, he became known for burning small holes and lines into his works with a blow torch. These marks evoke bullet holes, reminding the viewer of the walls of Beirut buildings marred by the fighting of the civil war – and of the psyches of those who lived through it, equally if less visibly scarred. In his abstract compositions, the "bullet hole" works as a shared symbol of a generation of war, to strongly condemn its violence and urge reconciliation.
In 2009, in keeping with these ideals, Srouji created Healing Bands, long, loose, narrow painted canvases that hang from the ceiling of the exhibition space. These works draw inspiration from Ethiopian healing scrolls, which have been used for over a thousand years as a means of purging evil spirits and demons from the body of a sick person. Part of a more extensive healing ritual, the scrolls are meant to be used in conjunction with plant-, animal, and chemical-based medicines; while medication alleviates physical symptoms, the scrolls are meant to soothe spiritual ones. Significantly, Ethiopian healing scrolls are used by members of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish faiths alike; Srouji here suggests a means of spiritual healing that cuts across the sectarian divisions of the civil war to soothe individual souls.
As is suggested by Healing Bands, Srouji's work has long engaged with questions of spirituality, peace, and inner freedom. Especially in the aftermath of September 11th, 2001, which witnessed large-scale violations of human rights in the interest of "security," Srouji began to toy with themes of escape and liberation. In Cage (2006), he expresses his internal imprisonment in a world of imposed western conformity through a series of diptychs reminiscent of Mustapha Farroukh's The Two Prisoners (1929). In keeping with his signature style, Srouji grapples with his somber subject matter against the light, peaceful backgrounds with colorful peripheral stripes and bright petals and clouds finding their way through gridded bars – perhaps to guide us to the strange story of the escape of his childhood birds.
After three decades working primarily with diptychs, Srouji returned to the Lebanese art scene in 2010 with one of his most colorful works: a series of large-scale vertical paintings entitled Land and Sea, which feature stratified, impressionistic washes of paint piling atop one another in impressions of land, sea and endless sky. These pictures defy gravity as they display depth and distance in three vertical planes, defying Western linear perspective in ways reminiscent of Chinese landscape painting and Islamic miniatures. In his latest works, Srouji reconciles with his homeland, proposing a rebirth of Middle Eastern art that is capable of creation beyond the rage of war.
Hanibal Srouji currently resides and works in Lebanon.
Sources
Buchakjian, Gregory ,and Sary Tadros . Hanibal Srouji. Peindre le Feu, L’eau, La Terre et L’Air. Beirut, Lebanon : Les éditions L’Orient-le Jour et Galerie Janine Rubeiz. 2013.
Hanibal Srouji - Exposition Actuelle. Accessed April 26, 2018.http://www.hanibalsrouji.com/e...
Books of Changes. Accessed April 26, 2018. http://www.hanibalsrouji.com/d...
“Hanibal Srouji | Biography." Janet Rady Fine Art. Accessed April 26, 2018. https://www.janetradyfineart.c...
“Hanibal Srouji | Press." Janet Rady Fine Art. Accessed April 26, 2018.https://staging.janetradyfinea...
“Latest News | UK News, Football News and Celeb Gossip | Daily Star." Dailystar.co.uk.Accessed April 26, 2018. https://www.dailystar.co.uk/.
Star, India Stoughton| The Daily. "Walking Backward into the Future." The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon. Accessed April 26, 2018. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Article.aspx?id=248362&link=Culture/Art/2014/Feb-25/248362-walking-backward-into-the-future.ashx
Recorded Interview with the artist Hanibal Srouji on 22/04/2018 – available at DAF (Dalloul Art Foundation) .
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CV
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023
Hanibal Srouji: The Song of the World, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
Hanibal Srouji: Breaking Point, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
2019
Hanibal Srouji: Sky is the Limit, Al markhiya Gallery, The Fire Station, Doha, Qatar
2018
Let us Dream, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
2016
Anti Gravity, Galerie Eulenspiegel, Basel, Switzerland
2014
Tête Dans Les Nuages, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
2011
Cages, June Kelly Gallery, New York, USA
Healing Bands, Galerie Europia, Paris, France
2010
Coming Back,FFA Private Bank, organized by Nada Boulos Al Assad, with Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
2009
Healing Bands, Galerie Eulenspiegel, Basel, Switzerland
Offerings, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
2008
Wishful Thinking, The Sultan Gallery, Kuwait
Healing Bands, Espace Derville, Paris, France
2007
Cages, Galerie Eulenspiegel, Basel, Switzerland
2006
Touches, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
2005
Elements, Centre Culturel de Gentilly, France
2004
Ephemeral, Rahmen Galerie Eulenspiegel, Basel, Switzerland
2003
Sous Le Signe De La Legerte, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
2002
Persistence Of Memory - Oasis, June Kelly Gallery, New York, USA
Transformations II, fire & color, MMG Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2000
Transformations, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
1999
Books, Galerie du Tableau, Marseille, France
1997
Notions Of Exile And Memory, Shirley Fiterman Gallery, N.Y. Borough of Manhattan Community College, with K. Jacobs, New York, YSA
Particles, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
1996
Marks, Office of the Ministry of Tourism of Lebanon, Paris, France
1995
Fields, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris "FIELDS", Confluences, Paris, France
1993
Recent Works, Confluences, Paris
1991
Forces Et Lumieres, with S. Couderc and J.PH, Hertzberg, Jardin d'Acclimatation, Paris, France
1990
Recent Works, Galerie EOS, Paris 1987 "DUO SHOW", with C. Hachon, Villas Nîmazur, Nîmes, France
1985
Recent Works, Galerie B, Nîmes "RECENT WORKS", Galerie Bourget, Montreal, Canada
1983
Two Artists To Discover, Place des Arts, Montréal, Canada
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
ONLINE: Available Artworks, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
2023
30 Years of Color, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
Lebanon | Untitled: Modern & Contemporary Lebanese Art, Janet Rady Fine Art, London, UK
Timelessness Of A Church, Behnoode Foundation, Paris, France
2022
Celebrating Painting, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
2017
Burning Landscapes, by Tania Nasr and Hannibal Srouji, Intersection gallery, Singapore
2016
32e Salon D’automne, Musée Sursock, Beirut, Lebanon
Bitasarrof, l'exposition à la Bibliothèque nationale du Liban, Lebanon
2014
Mac International, The MAC’s first open arts prize - Shortlisted 2014 – Belfast, Ireland
2013
Syri-Arts, 101 Works Of Art For Syrian Refugee Children In Lebanon, Beirut Exhibition Center, Beirut, Lebanon
Tajreed – a selection of Arab Abstract Art, 1908-1960, CAP, Contemporary Art Platform, Kuwait
Pellicula, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon "
Vous Avez Dit Abstrait, Exposition collective, Galerie Tanit, Beirut, Lebanon
2012
25th Anniversary, June Kelly Gallery, New York, USA
PRIMITIA, a collection of art, Faculty Show, School of Architecture and Design, LAU, Beirut, Lebanon
2011
Subtitles, APEAL, London, England
Rebirth: Lebanon Xxist Century Contemporary Art. Rebirth was conceived and curated by Janine Maamari in collaboration with Danièle Giraudy, Conservateur Général des Musées de France, Beirut Exhibition Center, Beirut, Lebanon
2010
Convergence, New Art from Lebanon, The Katzen Arts Center, Washington D.C., USA
Zig Zag, Cultural Center of Gentilly, France
2008
Arteum Musée D’art Contemporain, in Châteauneuf-le-Rouge, with Galerie Morlot, Marseille, France
Decentrisme, Municipal Gallery, Ostrowiec, and in Warsaw, Poland
Chosen Works, CCSS of Jamhour, Beirut, Lebanon
Recent Works, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
2007
L’art Dans Le Quotidien, Galerie Valeria RUIZ, Paris, France
2006
Europia Espace Galerie, Paris, France
Pinceaux Pour Plumes, Soursouk Museum, Lebanese Foundation of the National Library, in collaboration with Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
Artists of the Gallery, Rahmen Galerie Eulenspiegel Basel, Switzerland
Les Lauréats, Espace J. M. Mourlot, Marseille, France
D'un monde à l'autre, Collective exhibition, Galerie Valerie RUIZ, Paris, France
2005
Coup d'œil : Passé et Présent I, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
Peintres Émigrés, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
Peindre les tissus, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
RDV CINE, Le Tarmac, La Villette, Paris "LE PETIT MUSEE", Espace Bingen, Paris, France
2004
Hearing Voices: Personal Narratives, The Gallery, at Bristol-Myers Squibb, New Jersey, USA
The Artist View II, Cork St Gallery, London, UK
Novotel Atria, with Galerie Dialogue, Nîmes, France
2003
Garden Of Eden, The Phatory, New York, USA
Galerie Ginette Turpeau, Atelier Barata, Montreuil, France
Cerfs-volants d’artistes, Cité Universitaire, Maison du Liban, Paris, France
2002
Les Vendémiaires 2002, Salle Jan Bonal ; Saint Mathieu de Tréviers, France
Visages Francophones, with Galerie Janine Rubeiz, La Chantreri, Cahors, France
2001
Trans-Pyramid'Art, Egyptian Cultural Centre, Paris, France
Francophone Festival, Théâtre du Paris, Andézieux-Bouthéon, France
2000
Pages 4, Salon de la Bibliophilie Contemporaine, Galerie Dialogue, Espace Austerlitz, Paris, France
1999
Les Lauréats,Espace J. M. Mourlot, Marseille, France
1998
Polylogue 421- Combinaisons Aléatoires, Place des Vosges, Paris, France
SURFACE 1, Galerie Art et Patrimoine, Paris, France
1997
La Biennale D'issy, Palais des Arts et des Congrès d'Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
Book Works II, Lousdale Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
French Connection I, The Painting Center, New York, USA
Moi Qui Fait Profession Des Choses Muettes, Galerie Art et Patrimoine, Paris, France
Le 49 ème Salon De Saint Cloud, Musée des Avelines, saint Cloud, France
1996
Premier Prix De Peinture Jean Michel Mourlot, Tour du Roy René, Marseille, France
7th Film Festival, Cité Sociale, Fameck, France
Nord-Sud Nostalgie, Centre Culturel Français, Beirut, Lebanon
1995
Triangle Workshop, Hôtel du Département, Marseille, France
Open Doors, Triangle Workshop, Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Luminy, France
Massart Group, Condition des Soies, Cultural Center, Lyon, France
1994
Symposium de la Jeune Peinture au Canada, Baie-Saint-Paul, Québec, Canada
Tous Les Êtres Humains Naissent Libres Et Égaux...,Galerie Observatoire 4, Montréal, Canada
Journées Culturelles Libanaises, la Salle des Pas Perdus, Palais de L’UNESCO, Paris, France
Group Show, Mille et Une Bis, Paris, France
1993
International Painting Week, Galerie Montmartre, Les Carroz, France
SUD 92, BIENNALE DE LA PEINTURE, Palais des Arts et des Congrès, Issy-Les-Moulineaux, France
1992
12 Artistes Autour D'une Technique, Gravures sur Bois, Centre Social Les Marguerittes, Atelier Joe et Flo, Toulouse, France
la Médiathèque Marc Bernard, Nîmes, France
Le Retour Des Tours, la Tour du Duché, Uzés, France
The Faculty Show, Concordia Galeries, Montréal, Canada
1991
Exposition d'Ouverture, Galerie Citron, Montréal, Canada
1990
Rompre Le Silence, I. M. A., Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
Thomas Moore Show, C.D.N. Cultural Center, Montréal, Canada
5 ARTISTS, Galerie Opus 2, Montréal, Canada
1988
Bloc Artists, Galerie Nomade, Montréal, Canada
1987
4 Au Vigan, Musée Cévenol, Le Vigan, France
1986
Rencontre D'art, Musée Ingres, Montauban, France
Expo Resto Du Cœur, Espace Gard, Nîmes, France
1985
5 Peintres, Galerie Bourget, Montréal, Canada
1984
9 X 9, Galerie Y. Meir, Montréal, Canada
Biennale De La Faculte Des Beaux-Arts,Galeries Concordia, Montréal, Canada
1983
34e Salon Des Jeunes Artists, Le Grand Palais, Paris, France
La Jeune Peinture Québécoise, Le Centre Culturel C.D.N., Montréal, Canada
1982
Le Show, Galerie Weisman, Montréal "SELECTION 82", Place des Arts, Montréal, Canada
Duo Show, with F. Mulvey, Architecture Gallery, McGill University, Montréal, Canada
Duo Show, with J. Marok, V.A.V. Gallery, Montréal, Canada
Sélection 82, Place des Arts, Montréal, Canada
Awards and Honors
2016
Prix Jouhayna Baddoura, Paris France
1999
Prix de Ahmed Asseleh, Asseleh Foundation, Alger, Algeria. Bursaries
1997
Médaille d’argent des Arts, Mérite et dévouement français. "Grand Prix du 49ième Salon de Saint-Cloud", Musée des Avelines
1982-83
Concordia University Graduate Fellowship of Fine Arts, Montréal, Québec
1985-87
Bourse de Recherche et de Perfectionnement - Formations de chercheurs et de l'aide à la recherche, F.C.A.R. Ministry of Culture of Québec
Publications
2013
"Hanibal Srouji, Peindre le feu, l’eau, la terre, l’air", Éditions l’Orient le jour et Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Lebanon
2009
"Hanibal Srouji", Collection Paroles d’Artistes" - N° 2, edited by L’Agenda Culturel, Beirut, Lebanon
Collections
Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon
Saradar Collection, Beirut, Lebanon
Audi Bank Art Collection, Beirut, Lebanon
Tetouan National Museum, Morocco
Ville de Gentilly
Asseleh Foundation, Algiers, Algeria
Bay-Saint-Paul Contemporary Art Museum Quebec, Canada
Alcan Art Collection, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Bay-Saint-Paul Contemporary Art Museum, Quebec, Canada
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Press
midi_libre_Dec 3 2004.pdf
magasine2_April 12 2003.pdf
Hanibal Srouji_ capturing the phoenix rising from the ashes Arts & Ent , Culture THE DAILY STAR.pdf
Orient Le Jour_May 20 2005.pdf
canvas_article by Roula el Zein.pdf
Hannibal Srouji_ An artist on fire.pdf
هانيبال سروجي أطلال الذاكرة.pdf
Karen Wilkin.pdf
L_orient le Jour_Jan 11 1997.jpg.pdf
Simma.pdf
Mens_Passion_Magazine.pdf
strasbweb_Feb 5 2001.pdf
rencontre_Sherine Yazbeck.pdf
the-war-inside-oct_1.pdf
la_depeche_lot_Oct 2 2002.pdf
L_orient le jour_Jan 15 1997.pdf
Arab artists_ Srouji manipulates the techniques of light.pdf
tarrab_09.pdf
SortiraGentilly.pdf
orient_le_jour_Jan 15 2009.pdf
HanibalSrouji_Clémentine de Beaupuy -Le Petit JournalS-ingapore _Press_2017.pdf
orient_06_April 6 2006.pdf
Prix_Jouhayna_Baddoura_2016.pdf
pollman_Lisa_2016_1.pdf
Bullet-hole art and flowering eroticism Arts & Ent , Culture THE DAILY STAR.pdf
Painting fire, water, earth and air.pdf
Un Oeuvre Sentie et Pensee avant d_etre creee.pdf
Respiration Joseph Tarrab.pdf
معرض هنيبال سروجي في صالة جنين ربيز .pdf
الفضاء و غواية الألوان .pdf
Janine Rubeiz la revue du Liban.pdf
Une sensibilite tout en couleurs.pdf
لا أعتقد أننا نستطيع أن ننسى الحرب .pdf
لوحات هنيبعل سروجي تأليف يتجه صوب الإكتمال .pdf
هنيبعل سروجي يعبر عن حركة الطبيعية بألوان .pdf
أضاحي هانيبال سروجي .pdf
A Song For Freedom.pdf
Hannibal Srouji Nadine Khalil.pdf
HANIBAL SROUJI Artwork
DAF.01.HAN.002(2)_HanibalSrouji_Cage23_2013_Front.jpg)
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