Hanibal Srouji

Hanibal Srouji (born 1957 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese painter. He graduated in 1987 from Concordia University, Montreal. He lived in Canada and France before returning in his country. Srouji developed a technique of burning holes in his paintings^[1] after having participated to numerous workshops in America and Europe, including the Triangle Arts Trust.^[2] He currently teaches at the Lebanese American University.

Life and Work

Srouji’s art deals with his nostalgia for Lebanon, as he emigrated at the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War.^[3] At the beginning of the war, Srouji served as Red Cross volunteer in Southern Lebanon, an experience he later compared to horror movies.^[4] He ultimately escaped from Sidon by boat to Cyprus before emigrating to Canada. Shortly after the end of the war, Srouji traveled back to Lebanon to try to pick up the pieces.^[5]

Hanibal Srouji became known for using a blow-torch to create small hales and lines. His paintings remind bullet-marked walls of crippled buildings in Beirut and encompass the human emotions in the aftermath of the civil war.^[6] Another series have been dominated by vertical lines that represent the bars of a cage, as signs of confinement, but also be read as bars of a musical composition.^[7]

Although Srouji is considered as an abstract painter,^[8] his recent work, Terre/Mer ("land/sea"), evoked landscapes.

Awards

• Ahmed Asseleh Prize, Algiers, 1999
• "Mérite et dévouement français", Art Silver Medal, 1997
• 49th Saint-Cloud exhibition Grand Prize, Musée des Avelines, 1997.

Publications

• Hanibal Srouji: Painting fire, water, earth and air, Gregory Buchakjian and Sary Tadros (Galerie Janine Rubeiz, 2013)
• Paroles d’Artistes: Hanibal Srouji (L’Agenda Culturel, 2010)

Selected Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

• Into the Clouds, Singapore Art Fair, with Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Singapore, 2014
• Head in the Clouds, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, 2014
• Cages, June Kelly Gallery, New York, 2011
• Healing Bands, Europia, Paris, 2011
• Hanibal Srouji, FFA Private Bank, Beirut, 2010
• Healing Bands, Galerie Eulenspiegel, Basel, 2009
• Offrandes, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, 2009
• Touches, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, 2006
• Hanibal Srouji, Service Culturel Municipal, Gentilly, 2005
• Hanibal Srouji, Galerie Eulenspiegel, Basel, 2004
• Hanibal Srouji, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, 2003
• Transformations, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, 2003
• Particules, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, 1997

Group Exhibitions

• "MAC INTERNATIONAL", The MAC’s first open arts prize - Shortlisted 2014 – Belfast, Ireland, 2014 -
• "SYRI-ARTS, 101 WORKS OF ART FOR SYRIAN REFUGEE CHILDREN IN LEBANON", Beirut Exhibition Center, 2013
• "Tjreed – a selection of Arab Abstract Art, 1908-1960", CAP, Contemporary Art Platform, Kuwait, 2013
• "Vous avez dit Abstrait" - Exposition collective, Galerie Tanit, Beirut, 2013
• "Art Dubai, 2013", & "ABU DHABI Art, 2013", Galerie Janine Rubeiz, UAE, 2013
• Pellicula, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, 2013^[9]
• Vous avez dit abstrait?, Galerie Tanit, Beirut, 2013^[10]
• Subtitled: With Narratives from Lebanon, Royal College of Art, London, 2011
• Rebirth, Lebanon 21st Century Contemporary Art, Beirut Exhibition Art Center, Beirut, 2011
• Convergence, New Art from Lebanon, The American University Museum, Katzen Arts Center, Washington DC, 2010

References

1. "L'ARTISTE DU WEEK-END: Hanibal Srouji". L’Agenda Culturel. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
2. "Hanibal Srouji ('95), ZIG ZAG 2010 22nd ÉDITION". Triangle Arts Association. April 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
3. "SROUJI Hanibal - Beirut Exhibition Center". Beirut Exhibition Center. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
4. Buchakjian, Gregory (2010). Boustany, Nora, ed. New Art from Lebanon (PDF). ISBN 978-9953-0-1680-1.
5. Maha Majzoub. "The War Inside". Ragmag. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
6. El-Zein, Roula (2007). "Hanibal Srouji: A song for freedom". Canvas Magazine. Mixed Media Publishing. 3 (5). Retrieved 25 January 2012.
7. Kaelen Wilson-Goldie (2006-04-18). "A matter of artistic perspective". The Daily Star. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
8. "June Kelly Gallery". Artnet. 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
9. Stoughton, India (April 24, 2013). "On the impermanence of imagery". The Daily Star. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
10. Lahoud, Cherine (April 13, 2013). "Abstraction of a mystical bent". The Daily Star. Retrieved 11 May 2013.

External links

• Website of Hanibal Srouji
• Hanibal Srouji at Galerie Janine Rubeiz
• Hanibal Srouji at Europia Productions: Complete list of exhibitions and collections