Darwiche Chamaa unveils his solo exhibition within the splendid new confines of the Cheriff Tabet Gallery, located on Abdelwahab El Inglizi Street. The exhibition will graciously adorn the gallery until the 14th of July, 2023.
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Having graduated from the Lebanese University’s Institute of Fine Arts, the artist Darwiche Chamaa further pursued his academic journey and obtained a Master’s degree from the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA). His oeuvre has been showcased in a plethora of collective and solo exhibitions in Lebanon, France, and Cairo. Additionally, he passes on his expertise by teaching at various art institutions.
For the connoisseurs who have followed his journey at the Cheriff Tabet Gallery, witnessing the evolution of his artistry is a real delight. His art is characterized by vibrant color palettes imbued with poignant emotions and an acute artistic sensibility. An exquisite series of oil pastels is on display, delighting visitors who can marvel at the plethora of hues that blend through the fluidity of the medium. His geometric shapes, intertwined on the canvas’s surface, evoke Lebanese landscapes and scenes of natural splendor.
One could imagine contemplating the verdant expanse of the Beqaa Valley, watching the glistening sunset over the Mediterranean, or witnessing a dense, fiery dawn ascend behind the silhouettes of the mountains.
The viewer is also transported into quintessential Lebanese abodes with their characteristic red rooftops, sensing the aroma of coffee wafting through windows that open onto lush gardens, and witnessing flocks of sheep grazing gracefully.
There is a palpable essence of life in all its daily and unadorned splendor manifesting with warmth. Through his deft pastel strokes and scintillating smudges, the artist conveys a message of hope and beauty.
Flora, avian melodies, and wheat fields are rendered with fluidity and profundity as an homage to the heritage that is so dear to the artist.
The sea, with its undulating waves, the sky and its drifting clouds, forests, and trees, rendered in shades of blue and green of many nuances, all unfurl and coalesce through abstract and chromatic vibrations.
Employing an abstractionist technique, the artist envisions Lebanese landscapes on his canvases, which are meticulously crafted with oil paint. The oil-painted canvases are of a larger scale and the layers of paint, applied with a certain impasto technique, breathe life into the artwork. The movement of his lines and the blending of pigments are executed with vigor and sensitivity. Densely worked areas contrast sharply with smoother expanses where a single stroke could disrupt the canvas’s horizontality.
Much like a placid sea upon which a lone vessel would glide toward the horizon, or a serene sky traversed by a solitary cloud, the landscapes presented by Darwiche Chamaa are moments captured in both space and time.
This is an exhibition that one would find immense pleasure in visiting and revisiting, with the intent of immersing oneself further and experiencing this vividly colorful heritage through the lens of an artist who allows his brush to unveil his reveries.
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